Pieces Made Whole
by Redmoonfae
Summary: After the loss of her pack, Fae's life is turned upside by Paradise driven Kiba, Tsume, Toboe, and Hige. Now she must travel with them to learn the truth. REVAMP of The Broken Road
1. Prologue

**This is the new version of my older story, The Broken Road. Some things are going to be the same but I'm also going to revamp it a lot. So I hope you enjoy just as much, if not more, than its predecessor. I wanted to change my character's name, but I don't want to confuse anyone, so she's just going to stay 'Fae.' Unless anyone has any suggestions? I'd love to hear them. **

**Wolf's Rain © BONES**

**Fae and other OCs © Redmoonfae**

Prologue

It was cold. Very cold. The storm had only lasted a short time but it was enough to nearly freeze her small body. Now the sky only omitted a scattering of snow flakes, falling slowly and lazily from the clouds. A small chocolatety brown form staggered through the never ending sea of white, a small shining trail of red winding away behind her into the distance, already being covered by a new blanket of white. The small wolf pup stopped, quivering, her small legs shaking terribly. Finally they gave out from under her and she landed softly in the snow.

Her green eyes were barely open, staring unseeingly toward the horizon. Just visible against the light of the fading sun was the shape of a very large dome, looming over the barren landscape. The saying 'so close and yet so far' stung bitterly. It was much more comfortable to just lay here. It wasn't as cold as it was before. The new warmth was making her drowsy, something more ominous than sleep nipping at her heels. Her eyes began to drift shut, mind becoming fuzzy, so peaceful…

A cold breeze danced around and away from her, picking her damp fur up, going beneath and licking the skin. The pup's black nose twitched, taking one last sigh before sleep. And then those green eyes snapped open. Ears too large for her head pricked up before being forced back down by the wind, now stronger. But the wind brought something else with it, a kind of long lost memory. Pale as the moon, closed up tight, slowly opening and hailing their sovereign high above.

She suddenly wasn't so tired anymore. Her legs felt stronger and more sure of where they were leading her now. The pup got to her feet steadily, standing for a moment to be sure of her balance. She was going the right way, she knew that now, knew it more than anything else. It was so close…just to the horizon. She placed a timid paw in front of her, feeling and hearing the soft crunch as it dented the perfect surface of the awaiting landscape. Her head turned slowly and looked back behind her.

Could she really do this alone?

The sun seemed to be sinking faster now.

Could she really make it?

The snow was no longer floating lazily, but dropping more rapidly.

Could she finish this journey when none of her family had?

A strong wind buffeted her front, laying her fur flat upon her body, making her ears lay flat as well. There it was. That scent.

Yes, she could do this. She had to.

She turned and faced forward again. She took one step, and then another, and another, and then she was running. The last rays of light were now dying, fading slowly to a dusky blue. The wind whipped across the ground, urging the wolf pup forward while the snow covered the bloody trail, leaving the landscape a perfect solid white once more.

It was full dark by the time Fae reached the entrance to the domed city. There were men at the doors, holding long black sticks that smelled horribly. Very few other humans were entering the city, even fewer leaving. The pup sat and waited and waited. Finally, the doors were opening. She almost forgot the plan she was told a moon ago as a shining, metal square like object came through the doors. She stood quickly and made to bolt away, tail tucked firmly between her legs. She sniffed the air nervously and was surprised. The thing was not alive. She vaguely remembered someone telling her about these things. She thought she remembered they were called 'ka-aars.' She stared at it curiously before remembering what she had to do.

Untucking her tail, Fae sprinted toward the 'ka-aar,' staying as low to the ground as she could. The 'ka-aar' had stopped just outside the doors which were now slowly swinging back shut. She put on a burst of speed and skidded through the narrow gap left between the two halves. A dull thud behind her signaled they were now closed. She sat panting, small chest heaving fast.

Fae looked around, nose twitching and ears swinging around in every direction, trying to take in the whole city at once. It was huge, more massive than any forest she had been in. It was extremely noisy, even for night time. Engines, shouting, banging, thudding, and crashing sounds all berated her ears. And it smelled horrible.

But worst of all was the scent of human. It was everywhere, like a sickness—she cut her thoughts off. She was smart enough to know she must find shelter; although it was much warmer inside the dome, it was still very cold.

Fae stood again and headed off in a random direction. Her tail hung low to the ground and her ears remained perked for any sound of humans too close to her for comfort. Aside from a nasty alley cat who thought Fae was small enough for a meal the journey was uneventful. Her mind was beginning to doze off again, her eyelids drooping heavily and her walk becoming staggered.

"Hey look what I found!"

Fae nearly jumped out of her skin. She bolted for the nearest hiding place, knocking over a trash bin in the process. She sat shaking, eyes wide open now, her hackles raised defensively.

"Ahh, no way!"

"Lemme see, lemme see!"

"Hey, poke 'em with that stick!"

She waited until her heart beat had gone back to normal. The human voices were young and rather high pitched, but all male. Fae took a step from her hiding place and peered around the alley wall she had just been walking down. Her green eyes flashed in the darkness, easily seeing the three human children making so much noise. They were all young and shabby looking, wearing patched fur Fae knew was called 'clothing.' She relaxed more knowing it would be easy to just sneak past them. She began to walk slowly from her alley, turning away from the human boys.

'Yipe!!'

Fae stopped, head turning to look back at the humans.

"Haha, do that again man!"

'Yipeyipeyipe!!'

Fae moved silently to the side, keeping her belly pressed to the ground. She peered around the boys to see what was making that terrified noise. The three humans were crowded around a small, dirty box. She could see bits of cloth and fur inside of it, making a sort of nest. Fae craned her neck over until she thought it would snap. Amid the fur and rags she could now see more clearly something she had thought to be just more fur. But the clump of fur also had eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth, which was now opened wide as it yelped in panic and pain again.

One of boys had picked up a sharp looking stick and was jabbing the small creature hard in the side. Fae could smell blood. Rage boiled inside her fast, seething just beneath the surface. How could humans be so cruel? Wasn't it bad enough they had taken her pac—

She stopped her thoughts again before they could become dangerous. It was much easier to be blinded by her fury. Before she could register what she was doing, she had lunged for the nearest boy with a snarl, latching herself onto his exposed leg.

"AGGGGGHHHHH!!!"

Fae could taste blood as she clung on to the fleshy leg.

"GETIT OFFA ME!!"

The boy Fae had grabbed was thrashing wildly letting out its own yelps of pain as his thrashing just made Fae's teeth tear more. She let go before she wanted to as she felt a sharp pain on the top of her head. She leapt back from the boys, shaking her head hard. One of the other boys had brought his fist down hard right between her ears. She snarled more viciously than ever, trying to scare the boys off. Although she wouldn't admit it, she was no match against three humans, even if they were young.

"Get over here ya dumb dog so I can beat the crap out of you!" said the boy who had punched her.

Fae stopped growling. 'Dog?' Dog. DOG!? They thought she was a mangy mutt!? She opened her jaws wide and growled loudly, leaping at the boy. He fell backward trying to avoid her and fell over his friend, both of them crashing to the ground. Fae's teeth latched onto his arm, which was unfortunately covered with clothes. She whipped her head back and forth, trying to rip the clothes, or the arm, off. The boy yelled and pulled at her fur trying to dislodge her. She let go to get a better hold, but her jaws closed on air. The boys scrambled up and took off down the alley, shouting 'HELP' and 'RABIES.' Their friend whose leg was injured limped after them, screaming for them to wait up.

Fae stood panting and shaking for several minutes. The red finally drained itself from her eyes and she could see normally again. She shook herself all over and sat down, collapsing into a laying position. She heaved a tremendous sigh and her eyes closed again.

She was aroused from her exhaustion by a pain in her hear. She swiped her paw at his distractedly. She heard a yelp and opened her eyes. The small fur ball the humans at been harassing was lying on its back on a few inches from her muzzle. She lifted her head and stared at it.

_"What?"_ she snapped, irritated the thing was being so ungrateful as to bite her ear.

It just stared back at her with eerie blue eyes. She waited for an answer and received none. With a 'harrumph' she laid her back down. But before she could fall asleep she felt something wriggling between her front legs. Her eyes snapped open to see the thing squirming into her chest, rubbing its face into her tan chest fur. Her lip curled threateningly at it, a low growl rising from her throat.

"_Just because I saved you doesn't mean I like you."_ She growled.

It stared at her as if to say, 'like you would really bite me?'

Fae glared at the small creature before rolling her eyes. She stood, not paying a glance as the small thing toppled over. She walked into the box that its nest had been in, feeling quite cramped but much warmer. The kit trotted clumsily back into the box as well, snuggling itself into Fae's fur again.

"_Tonight I'll sleep here. But tomorrow, you're on your own again._" Fae told it sternly.

The fur-lump stared back at her before closing its eyes and falling into a restful sleep. Fae glared at it, snorted, and laid her head back down again. The weariness in her bones now seemed completely overwhelming. She now noticed how much her pads ached, some were still bleeding gently. Her eyes began to slowly drift closed as a small breeze buffeted the box, bringing the smell of the moon and memories.

She fell asleep and did not dream.

**Well, what'd you think? Better? Worse? It is only the prologue. It's hard to tell just from this, but I've changed her fur color and her markings. The small poof ball, which is in fact a fox, is a tawny red and brown. He looks mostly like a fennec fox, but with a bushier, longer tail, and an all together fuzzier body. Hope this helps. Please review and tell me what you think!**


	2. Round About Days

**Well, I really hope ya'll like it. I'm still not 100% certain on Fae's appearance (wolf or human) so if anyone has any suggestions (clothing, markings, colors) I would absolutely love to hear them. Enjoy!**

**Wolf's Rain © BONES**

**Fae and other OCs © Redmoonfae**

**Chapter One: Fateful Meetings**

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_RrrrrrRRRrrrrrrr….CRASH._

"Oooo! My leg!"

It was unusually chaotic on this particular road in the south side of the city. It started out normal for young Alex on that fateful morning. He woke up late, as usual, and had to rush through getting dressed. He took only some toast with butter scraped sloppily on one side and headed out the door. By accident he put his helmet on backwards and had to stop to readjust it. By this time he was at least fifteen minutes late for his shift at the general store. He threw one leg over his bike and took off at a reckless speed down crowded streets. He had planned on being late, as he did every day. What he hadn't planned on was a crash encounter with a young woman.

And here he was now, his bike lying on its side, wheel still turning round and round lazily, the handlebars crooked, and the chain hanging off. A few feet away was a young woman flat on her bottom in the middle of the street, clutching at her leg as if in pain.

In his state of shock, Alex registered that she was a very pretty young woman. Still a teenager probably. She had long mid back length deep brown hair, side bangs obscuring one green eye now. She had on a pair of dark colored jeans that were really rather tight and left about an inch gap of midriff showing before her shirt started, which was a darker shade of green than her eyes. She had on a cut off jacket that ended just below her, _ahem_, bosom and was made out of some black material. At the moment, her pretty face was twisted in pain.

"Ooo…my leggg…" she moaned in a voice punctuated with suffering.

"Oh my…oh my God….I am…s-so sorry!" Alex stammered, kneeling down next to her. "Here lemme see…" he said, moving to pry her hands away from her leg.

'Oh, no no no no….it hurts too much!" she wailed. She was attracting quite a crowd. A crowd now murmuring about reckless bikers and lawsuits.

"Uhh…erm…I'm really, really sorry…I didn't see…I—please forgive me!" he pleaded with her, eyes desperate.

The crowd was dispersing now, on to their daily routines. A bike accident could only hold their attentions for so long. Soon the only two on the road were Alex and his victim.

"R-really, if there's anything I can do…really…" he continued.

The girl took one hand away and rubbed at her tear stained face.

"W-well…" she began, sob-hiccupping mid word.

"Name it!" he said, grabbing onto to any safety not labeled 'Law Suit.'

"No, I c-c-couldn't possibly…"

"Anything! Anything at all!"

And so this continued. While Alex was occupied with the girl and trying to get her to tell him what she would accept as apology, he failed to notice a small form streaking up behind him. It was a fox, incredibly enough, in the city. Its fur was a tawny red and brown color, darkening at the ears and down the legs and tail. Its eyes were an eerie dark blue color, most uncommon. It slow its pace as it drew nearer the unsuspecting human. Eyeing the bottom of the man's pants, the fox seemed to smirk as it saw a lump in the back pocket, a brown, squareish object protruding from it. The fox stealthily snuck up behind the man. Craning its neck, the fox took the tip of the wallet in its mouth and began to very carefully extract it from the pocket.

Alex felt a tickle around his bottom. He absently reached back to possibly swat away a fly when the woman took his hand into both of hers.

"I'm sorry, it's just…this has been such a horrible day for me!" she sobbed dramatically, clutching his hand to her chest.

"Uh….erm…it'll…uh…be ok?" he tried weakly.

And so he became distracted again. The fox rolled its eyes and pulled the wallet fully out of the man's back pocket. He peered around to the girl and gave her a significant look before turning tail and bolting away.

The girl's eyes flashed when she saw the fox run away. She suddenly leapt to her feet. "Oh my God! I just remembered, I left the stove on!" she looked at Alex with a pitying look. "I'm sorry, I'll contact you another time about the time of the court notice. I'll get everything settled, just wear something nice." She smiled and darted off after the fox.

Alex stared, dumbstruck, after the woman. "C-court hearing?" he moaned softly.

And so was the misfortunate start to Alex's day.

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"Damn, what a cheapskate!" Fae snarled as she tossed the wallet aside, shaking a mere ten dollars in her fist. "That was a star performance too…" she muttered under her breath.

_"Do you even know what a stove is?"_

Fae glared over at the fox sitting on a pile of crates, licking his paw absently and completely ignoring her glares.

"Why, yes, I do Kai. It's what I'll be cooking you in. Medium or well done?" she sneered sweetly.

The fox, Kai, snorted, flicked his ears, and continued to lick his paws.

Fae rolled her eyes and looked away. "Hmmm….well, there's not much we can buy with ten bucks…and I'm hungry." She added. She clutched at her stomach as she spoke. Fae's nose twitched and she turned her head to face down an alley way across from her. She smirked. "Hmm…sounds like Tsume's back from pillaging from the rich. Let's see if he wants to 'share' any." With that, she set off determinedly down the alley way.

Kai leapt off the box and ran after her, leaping to her hip and then onto her shoulder, wrapping himself around comfortably.

_"One day he's not going to let your little 'borrowing' habits go."_ Kai said wisely.

Fae rolled her eyes. "If he hasn't figured it out yet and come after me, he isn't going to." Said Fae confidently.

_"The only reason he hasn't done anything yet is because there's discord in his gang. He can't leave for an extended amount of time to chase down a 'dog.'"_

Fae snarled dangerously, her once normal teeth now sharp fangs. "Do NOT call me that word."

Kai kept quiet.

She continued walking for another few minutes, until she heard running steps coming her way. She stopped and looked up at the buildings around her. Pulling Kai off her shoulder and holding him tightly, she back flipped onto the wall to her left, leapt to the one on her right, and repeated this process until she was on the roof of the left building. She put Kai down and laid on her belly, staring down at the four figures running down the alley.

"There's Gehl with him…wonder if he screwed up again…" said Fae thoughtfully to herself. Gehl had caught her once while she was trying to sneak away with some food. She hadn't wanted to kill him, so she had pretended to be just a hungry dog. It had wounded her pride greatly, but luckily Gille wasn't one for cutesy little names. He had tried to pet her though, at which she had growled warningly. Surprisingly, he had still given her a few cold hot dogs after that. It was then that she found it much easier to wheedle her way in through one of the insiders than sneak and skulk. Of course, she only did this when Tsume was away with other gang members or off by himself.

Soon Gehl had come to expect her and had some dogs or burgers waiting for her. He always wore a goofy grin when he saw her, which, she had to admit, was flattering. Usually when people saw her in her true form they were terrified and some even tried to attack her. It was annoying though, when he started trying to think of names for her. He had tried 'Fang' 'Fido' 'Mooney' and other horrible names for her. She had growled at him whenever he tried to call her over by any of those. Finally, he had settled on 'Belle' which meant 'beauty' in some language or other. At first she had growled at this name too, but he insisted on it and she did maintain a full belly. So she allowed it.

Problems began to arise when other gang leaders saw her. Some tried to smooch at her to get her to come or even tried throwing rocks or sticks at her, either for fun or to scare her off. Gehl had stood up for it and one of the older men had punched him for it. Well, it wasn't her fault that she had 'felt threatened' and nearly ripped the offending hand off. That's when things became rather difficult.

It was obvious Tsume had already known she had been around. He had caught her scent after a day or so and became territorial, making circuits around the supplies and the gang's meeting place, a large tree, to check for any signs of her. She had stopped showing up for a few days after that until he stopped being so paranoid. It was then she had decided to start coming as a human too. She had waited until a day when a gang member was bullying Gehl; he stalked off to sulk alone, away from prying eyes. Fae had made her move. She offered sympathy and kindness and received some in turn. She may have let slip that she was having hard times, what with her grandmother being ill and unable to work and Fae having to do everything on her own. She got a whole box of burgers for that one.

Luckily, discord had begun spreading through the gang. Some thought Tsume an unsuitable leader, others just wanted out. But these problems kept Tsume busy and he being busy meant he didn't have extra time to waste chasing after her.

Fae shook herself out of her reverie as the two gang members, Tsume, and Gehl stopped almost directly below her.

"Where's the fire? Can't we slow down a little, there's nobody followin' us." Said one guy with a helmet on.

"I know." Replied Tsume coldly.

"Haven't we got enough already? I mean, there's plenty to go around." Said another guy with fluffy hair.

"The provisions for the nobles are going to be passing through the check point tomorrow." Said Tsume evenly.

There was a collective gasp from the three humans.

"We're gonna hit 'em again?" asked Gehl incredulously.

Fae couldn't blame him for being surprised. From what he had mentioned of it a week or so ago, they had screwed up royally the last time they had tried it.

But a look from Tsume silenced all of them.

"Chen, Seto, you're in the advanced squad."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Said one with a look to the other.

"Yeah but, we messed it up bad there last week. Security's gonna be even tighter now. We lost two of us today as it is."

"Gehl, you're on standby. Anyone else who isn't willing to fight should get out now." Tsume said coldly. He turned on his heel and walked away.

The three humans stood stunned for a moment before hurrying off after him, making a turn and disappearing from sight. Fae snorted and smirked. If they were going again tonight that meant she had easy pickings from their already nabbed supplies.

Fae smirked and stood, brushing dust and dirt from her front. She turned to leave and stopped in her tracks. There in front of her was standing Tsume, hands on hips and looking very displeased.

"So. We finally meet." He said with a smirk in his voice.

Fae recovered from her surprise quickly. Kai's hackles were up and he was yowling at Tsume. Fae brushed at her stomach again to buy time; acting as though she didn't care Tsume was standing right there. In front of her.

"Well, it did take you one hell of a long time. I was beginning to think you didn't care at all." Said Fae nonchalantly, pushing her long hair over her shoulder. She sized him up shrewdly. Bigger, older, better fighter…well, she could always run. But she didn't want to resort to that. Running now would mean no more free hot dogs.

"As it happens, I do care when some snooping pup steals from me and listens to my conversations." He replied, voice adopting an edge.

"Seeing as how you must be blind and unable to smell, I'll let you know I'm not a pup. And if you really wanted to keep all that food, maybe you could've done at better job at guarding it and keeping it in your territory." She said coldly.

Tsume's form became more rigid. His lip curled to reveal very unhuman like teeth. Fae stood her ground but her heart jumped a little. Maybe insulting an alpha like wolf about his inability to guard his territory hadn't been one of her better ideas.

"If I were you_ pup_, I'd clear outta here while I could still walk." He growled dangerously.

Fae stood up straighter too. "Me? Leave? Why not you, scar boy? I was in this city first. As far as I'm concerned, I've been pretty damn lenient with _you_ being in _my_ territory. So maybe you should take your own advice." Her voice had dropped low and she could feel her teeth poking uncomfortably into her cheeks and lips. Kai glanced up from beside her, pupils large. Fae gulped tightly. She couldn't back down now she was in so deep.

Tsume snarled loudly and advanced on her. Fae froze for a moment before leaping to the side. Her claws clicked on the top of the roof as she darted out of reach of Tsume's teeth, his jaws clamping shut in the exact spot her back leg had been a moment ago. They stood there glaring at each other, both snarling and sizing each other up. Tsume lunged for her again, jaws wide open. Fae stumbled back and snapped at his head as his lunge missed. Before either of them could attack again, a shout could be heard.

"TSUME!!"

It was one of his gang members shouting for him. Tsume was about to ignore it when the yell came again. He fixed his eyes on Fae's. "Next time I smell you in my territory bitch I'll make sure you remember this is _my_ city." Staring at her for a second longer, he leapt off the building and sprinted toward the shouts coming from his gang.

Fae sank to the ground, shaking gently. She had never been in a real fight with one of her own kind in the whole of her life. For the first one to be with a wolf half her size larger and much more experienced in combat…Fae shook herself and stood, brushing off imaginary dust from the front of her shirt.

"Well…that was fun…" she said in a falsely cheery voice. "OW!"

Kai had leapt onto her shoulder and sunk his fangs into the soft flesh between there and her neck. He was very puffy and his eyes were sparkling. _"You idiot! Did you even think for a second what you were doing!? I knew you were rash, but not SUICIDAL!" _he snarled at her.

Fae glared back and turned her head away from him. "Nothing serious would've happened. You worry way too much. You sound like my moth—" the words caught in her throat. She cleared it and continued, "You sound ridiculous. I would've been fine."

Kai continued to glare at her but knew speaking of it further would only upset her more and therefore cause him more grief. He settled himself around her neck as she leapt from the building as well, setting off in the opposite direction Tsume had taken. She vaguely wondered what his gang had been shouting about. They sounded panicked. She shrugged it off, kicking at a rock in her path.

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"Is it depressing that the highlight of my day was nearly being bitten in half?" Fae asked absently. She dangled her legs off of the building she was sitting on, laying back with her hands under her head and staring up at the smoggy sky.

_"Yes."_ Replied Kai.

Fae ignored him and continued to scowl at the sky.

She had decided it would be best to lay low for a while. Let Tsume think she was 'obeying' him. Let his guard fall. Then she would eat well again. She put a hand on her grumbling stomach and scrunched her eyes closed with a groan.

Her nose twitched. She sat up quickly, shaking her head hard to dispel the light headedness. She peered over the side of the building and to the right.

"Well would ya look at that…" she muttered to herself.

Down the road limped a white form. Fae had never seen this wolf in the city before so he had to be new. She snorted. Of course he was, walking around like that for the whole city to see. He passed underneath and continued to wind his way slowly through the streets. She waited a moment before standing and leaping from her building to the next, Kai tucked around her neck as usual. She followed the strange wolf from above, wondering where he was going.

Fae rolled her eyes pityingly. He must be deranged to wander around like this in broad day light; he was attracting a lot of attention. Fae's head snapped up and away from looking at the wolf. They now focused on a rapidly growing object. Objects really. She had never seen this man or his dog before. He had the smell of alcohol, discernable even from her stand point. His dog was black and menacing with a flashy spike collar. He was also carrying a gun. He stopped and locked it.

Finally the white wolf stopped and looked around at the man in surprise. He turned to face them. The man still held the dog's leash tightly in his hand; and he was taking aim. Wow this wolf was dumb. Fae's lip curled dangerously. Without a second thought she leapt from her building, claws clicking on the ground. The man had passed beneath her and had gone half a block down. It would be close. She poured on the speed, legs blurring. Her eyes focused only on the man. She could see his finger tensing, his shakiness ease…

_**BANG**_

The bullet missed by six and quarter inches. It left a black burn mark in the ground. The man looked shocked, not having realized what happened. Fae was still leaning against his legs where she had run against him. The white wolf looked shocked, staring. The black dog recovered first. With a furious snarl it had opened its jaws, lunging for Fae. And then a tawny red form leapt off Fae's back and scrabbled at the dog's face. It yowled in surprise and pain as it fought to scrape the offending thing off.

"Why you god damn--!" the man snarled. He had finally snapped out of it.

Fae didn't give him a second chance to aim. She took off full tilt toward the white wolf and slammed into his shoulder.

_"Would you PLEASE move your ass!?"_ she snarled at him, her lips curling and eyes rolling.

The white wolf's lip curled in return, but when Fae took off down the street and took a right down an alley he was right behind her. Fae could now hear the sounds of the dog's noisy chase. She could hear the distant yells of encouragement coming from the man too.

She took rights and lefts down alley ways without paying attention, blood still pumping. She knew the white wolf was still behind her, his wounded leg barely hindering him. Finally she slowed down to a trot, glancing behind her a few times. Soon she was walking. The other wolf said nothing.

They were nearing the end of another alley way, a few people passing through the road beyond. Fae sighed and rubbed her head tiredly, a steady headache building up.

"So what the hell was with that little stunt you pulled? Trying to prove something or what?" she said disapprovingly.

To her surprise, the wolf growled. _"What stunt? I was just walking."_

Fae's brow rose in disbelief. "Like that? That's a good way to get shot. Oh wait, you almost did." She said matter-of-factly.

_"I'd rather be shot while I still had my pride then living in this god awful place without it." _He growled back.

Now her temper was beginning to nip at her heels. "And what the hell are you insinuating? You talk pretty big for someone who was just nearly killed." She snapped.

_"Better to be dead than to be living like a mangy dog. Don't you have any pride as a wolf?"_

Fae glared at him. Her lip curled up to show pointed fangs. "You better watch your mouth. What's the point of having pride if you're killed because of it? I'd rather do what I can to keep living so that I can keep on having my pride as a wolf!" she was nearly shouting by the end.

The white wolf stared at her, momentarily not growling at her anymore.

Fae glared at him for a minute more before snorting and sliding to the ground to sit and rest against the building wall. The white wolf stayed standing, his fur still on end. He glanced back behind him, ears perked.

"You can stop worrying so much. I think I know this city a little better than some drunk trigger happy lunatic and his dog." Fae snarled at him. "Or does me not wanting to be shot for being a big headed idiot mean I have no sense of direction?"

He didn't answer but he sat down, ears still perked for any sound. He stared at her. It was starting to piss her off.

"Can I help you with something?" she snapped.

_"Where is that scent coming from?" _he asked.

Fae blinked at him confusedly. "What? The sickly rotting smell? Look, I can tell you're not from around here. So let me tell you something. You're in a city. With a lot of humans. Of course it reeks." She said slowly, as if speaking to someone very young.

_"Not that. The smell of lunar flowers."_ He replied evenly.

Her heart stopped. Then raced away with any come back that had been poised on her tongue. Her eyes widened slowly and stayed that way. Then she shook her head impatiently, rubbed her temple, and she was fine.

Well.

"I don't know what you're talking about. This is a city. Flowers don't grow here, let alone lunar flowers." She said matter of factly, voice only breaking slightly on the word 'lunar.'

"_You're lying. You've scented them before and now I do too. Where is it coming from?" _he started to sound angry and almost…desperate?

"Look! I haven't smelt those flowers in years! And when I did I was more than delusional with exhaustion, so it was probably nothing. You're wasting your time if that's what you're here." Her tone was snappish and strangled. Guh. She was sickening herself.

_"Just tell me where you think the scent came from. You can remember."_ He seemed anxious. One paw lifted off the ground and then returned then lifted again.

Fae sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. But if there's nothing there, which there isn't, don't blame it on me." He was getting aggravating. And she knew where the smell was once the strongest. Since then she hadn't been able to smell it at all.

The other wolf's eyes flashed when she said she would take him. And then his ears were up and he was whirling around with teeth bared. And Fae was leaping over him and snapping at the air where his muzzle had been a second before. Kai slowed his break neck pace toward the pair when he saw the danger.

Fae's tail was straight up as well as her hackles. Her teeth were bared and a soft growl resonated from her throat toward the other wolf. The white wolf saw his mistake and backed down, relaxing into a calm position.

_"Sorry."_

Fae snorted and relaxed, shaking herself. She stood and rubbed her temples again. This guy was giving her a headache. "Alright. Let's go. It's pretty far and I don't want to be out all night."

Kai leapt onto her shoulder as she set off to the end of the alley where a few people were still passing. She stopped when she heard clicking claws. She turned with a sigh to face her new 'acquaintance.'

"Look. You're not going to get within three miles of the place looking like that. I know it's apparently against your morals or something, but if you want to come, you have to blend it. Got it?" her tone was exasperated.

His yellow eyes glowed with mutiny and he didn't answer.

"Either that or I'll have to find a leash and you have to start answering to 'Fido.'" She snapped.

He growled softly at that. And after a moment of deliberation, a young man with shaggy black hair and light blue eyes was standing in front of her. His faded jeans were ripped and bloody in a patch on his left thigh, the exact area where the white wolf had been bleeding from.

Fae nodded approvingly. "Alright. Much better. Now we can go."

She started off again, her companion limping lightly behind her. They traveled in silence. Most people kept their distance. Some instinct unknown to them made them curve out of their way unconsciously to avoid the wolves in their midst. It took roughly two hours of walking to get to the complete opposite side of the city. Fae rarely came here. It was harder to blend in with these uppity ups. Thought she bet they carried more than ten dollars in their wallets.

Finally they reached a huge building with a mountain of stairs leading up to it. Armed guards stood on either side of the doors, senses lazy from lack of exercise.

"Well, here we are. As long as you keep up the costume they won't suspect anything. Just say you're part of the cleaning team. They won't question you and they don't carry IDs. Not worth their time to check cleaners I guess. Just lay low and don't go all wacko in there. The humans that work in their would just love a big wolf to dissect." She was rambling and she knew it. But this was the first wolf she had spoken too with little risk of her face being bitten off in many years. She couldn't help if it she was little lonely for some canis lupus companionship. She was a wolf after all.

The wolf, or man really, nodded his head, eyes intent on the building.

"Thanks."

He started making his way to the stairs.

"Wait!"

He turned around, eyes questioning.

"Uhhmmm." Now she just felt stupid. She shifted her stance. "What's your name anyway?"

"Kiba."

And with that, he turned around again and continued up the steps purposefully, any signs of a limp gone.

Fae watched him go wistfully. She would love to go with him and sneak around a lab like that. But she shook her head. She was too old to be chasing after pup tales even if Kiba seemed to think they were real. She turned and began to make the long trek back to her home turf. She heard a woman's light laughter. She looked over and saw a fancy couple heading her way. She smirked. Kai leapt off her shoulder and darted away behind a garbage can on the sidewalk. Fae settled herself against the wall of a building and sighed. She put her game face on.

"Ooooooo, my leg….."

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**So?? What'd ya think? Good, bad? Better, worse? Please let me know! I'm dyin' here! I hope you liked it atleast. So, two of our dashing heros make their appearances. But wait…where are the other two? Keep reading sillys. R n R!**


	3. Gathering Storm

**Yay! Another chapter! And more characters to meet. Funfunfun. I really hope you enjoy. **

**Wolf's Rain © BONES**

**Fae. Kai, any other OCs © Redmoonfae**

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It was warm. Actually warm. And sunny. Still smoggy, but less than usual. All in all, a beautiful day for a terrible city. Fae trotted along happily, claws clicking a rhythm on the pavement as she went. Her chocolate brown coat absorbed all the heat and kept her comfortable, even while outside the dome it was snowing. Kai rode on her back, curled up and clutching the warm fur with his small paws. Fae panted happily, nose twitching for a sign of anything interesting. Or edible. She had spent all the money she 'borrowed' from Mr. and Mrs. Fancy on two gold hoop earrings, now clinking together almost inaudibly on her left ear. But there was still the small problem of hunger. And the lack of food.

And so she was out and about looking for an easy meal.

_CAWCAWCAW_

Her keen ears pricked up immediately at the raucous coming from some garbage cans just down the next alley. She couldn't understand what they were saying; they were all screeching at once and crows were usually nonsensical and spoke in rhymes that made little sense anyway. But where crows were there was usually something to be stolen. And live prey. Fae slowed her trot and began skulking. Kai blinked, yawned, and leapt from her back to let her do her hunting. As she drew closer she could just make out bits of words and sentences.

"_WEAK MEEK PIP SQUEAK"_

"_STEAL STEAL GOOD MEAL"_

"_SLOW MO WOOF PO"_

Fae didn't even try to understand what they were talking about. She tensed herself, picking out a black form hopping among the others that would be her breakfast. She growled low in her throat. Inhale. Exhale. Leap.

More loud screeching and callings. A horrible dizzying flutter of buffeting wings. Sharp pecks. A mouth full of bones and feathers. A quick crunch. A collision. A yelp.

Fae shook her head vigorously; first to make sure her meal was dead and secondly to clear it of all the confusion. She had thought she had run into…wait. Yes, she did. There on the ground beneath her lay a lanky reddish brown mound. A soft whine was issuing from it as it scrambled to right itself. Scared yellow-brown eyes looked up at her from their cringing position. Fae blinked. Then blinked again.

The other wolf gulped and skidded back hurriedly from her. Fae dropped her kill onto the concrete where it lay in a mound of blood stained feathers at her paws. She stared at the other wolf shrewdly, deciding if he was a threat or not. Survey says: not even a little bit. He was scrawny and too thin, at an awkward point in his growth that Fae herself had only come out of a year before. She almost snorted at his overly long limbs and large paws. But he looked so mortified she stayed silent.

_"Uuuhhh…uhhm…hi." _

Ooo, he was articulate this one.

_"You're a wolf!"_

And a genius.

_"My name's Toboe? What's yours?"_

The gangly wolf came toward her cautiously; tail wagging low to the ground and head bowed low, but a look of complete happiness in his eyes.

_"I'm Fae. What were you doing?" _ She asked, tilting her head. His fur was grungy and there were some small tufts torn here and there around his shoulders and hind quarters. His tail stopped wagging.

_"Oh…crows don't like me very much…"_ he muttered quietly. He tried a light hearted wuffle at the end, but failed.

Now the crow's broken sentences made some more sense. She inwardly shook her head. It was sad to a see a wolf get beaten by a few crows.

_"Are you new here or something?" _she asked impatiently.

_"What? Me? No, I've lived here my whole life almost."_ He replied confusedly.

More confusion. Fae had never seen this wolf around before and she kept tabs on all of them. Well, that was two that had snuck in unnoticed in just two days. Kai decided to walk in at that moment, ears perked up at the new wolf. He trotted up to Fae and sat beside her, regarding Toboe unblinkingly.

Toboe backed up a few steps at the sight of this strange creature he had never seen before. So as well as being articulate and a genius he was also very jumpy. Fae had to wonder how he survived at all in this huge city.

He looked like he was about to ask another question when the sound of a pair of footsteps reached them. Fae's head whipped up to stare at the father and daughter pair walking their way. The girl was carrying a bag filled to the brim with food. Presently, an apple tipped out and went trundling down toward the pair of wolves.

Toboe's ears perked up and he trotted over to the fallen fruit, sniffing at it before opening his mouth to grab it. He stopped right before as the girl came hurrying down to retrieve the fruit. Toboe backed up quickly toward Fae where he stood half crouched. Fae continued to stare at the girl unblinkingly. She didn't look threatening, but you could never tell with some humans. She took a step forward, a long dormant instinct pushing her to protect the weaker. She glanced at Toboe before staring at the girl again.

The girl had reached the apple and was picking it up, watching the wolves with open admiration.

"Hey, it's ok. I won't hurt you. But here, this would taste better." She put the apple back in the bag and instead brought out a string of hot dogs. Toboe's ear pricked up again and he walked slowly back to the girl. Fae growled in warning but stayed where she was.

The girl held out the food to him as if to a dog. Fae heard herself growling again. Toboe sniffed the food before taking it and swallowing it in three bites. The girl put her hand on his head and rubbed his cheeks. Toboe whined and closed his eyes. Fae trotted over with a vicious snarl, her hackles up and her tail standing straight. The girl gasped and backed up a few steps before balancing herself again. She was either brave or stupid because she didn't immediately run off. She took out another small string of hot dogs and placed them on the ground and smiled warmly.

"It's ok. I'm not going to hurt you or your friend."

"Leara!"

The girl turned around and called back to her father. "I have to go now. Bye!" She waved at the wolves and ran back to her father. Toboe whined as she went, ears falling back. Then he turned on Fae with an expression of rebuke.

_"Why'd you do that? She was nice!" _he complained.

Fae snorted. _"You can't just trust any human that waltzes up and hands you food. And you let her pet you! Would you rather be her dog than a wolf?" _Fae snarled and snorted in distain.

Toboe's tail drooped. _"Not all humans are bad…and I was hungry."_ He muttered, glancing away.

Fae shook her head and neck. _"If you're hungry, follow me. I know where we can get some food." _She said resignedly. She glared over at the already half eaten crow and at Kai licking his chops happily.

Toboe's ears and tail perked up at this. _"You mean I can come with you?"_ he asked incredulously.

Fae nodded her head before standing up and rubbing her temples.

"Yeah. I know where a good place is for food. But you have to lay low, 'kay?" she replied, already setting off down another alley that led out to a street she knew well.

"Wow! That's so cool! Do you have a special stock pile or something?" the now human Toboe asked her. His eyes and face were even fuller of expression as a human. She also now took notice of five silver bracelets around his right leg that clinked softly.

"Uhhmmm….yeah, something like that."

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Soon they were in sight of a huge tree canopy just visible over the building they were standing behind. Toboe had plagued Fae with endless questions from where she had come from to what her favorite thing to do was. While most of her was annoyed there was a small part that relished the attentions of another wolf for the first time in years. But now she gestured for him to be quiet.

"Alright. When we go in there don't attract any attention. I don't want any of those humans to notice us. If one of them sees us and comes over either run off or scare him away. Ok, let's go."

Toboe nodded, fists clenched. He didn't want to disappoint his new friend on their first mission together. Fae smirked and rolled her eyes. Without another word she trotted around the corner, her claws barely making any noise on the concrete. Toboe was close behind, pacing more erratic with excitement. She wished his bracelets didn't make so much noise. They came out of the alley to a very large and wide open area. At the center was a huge tree, its root system pulling up the ground and making the ground dangerously uneven. Some humans lounged around her, all scruffy and rough looking. None of them took any notice as the two wolves wound their way around the clearing. Fae's nose was twitching, seeking out the only human she trusted.

Gehl was sitting by himself on a root away from all the other men. He looked sulky, as he usually did, and his feet swung in the air lazily. Fae yipped quietly to get his attention. Gehl looked up right away with a big crooked grin.

"Ah, hey girl! Long time no see!" he hopped down from his seat and half reached out to her but knew he couldn't pet. "Hey, you brought a friend too." He said, taking in Toboe. Toboe, for his part, wagged his tail cheerily, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth.

"You know, if I have to start feeding both of you, Tsume's bound the find out…" Gehl said half to himself. Fae harrumphed and padded closer, giving him a puppy dog look with her big green eyes. Gehl smiled again. "Alright. C'mon girl." He gestured for her to follow, even though she knew where to go better than he did.

They came to the area where the boxes of various food items were kept. He took out a packet of hog dogs and ripped them open, laying them on the ground for Fae and Toboe. Fae padded over with her head held high and grabbed her share, walking over and laying down with before eating. Toboe took his as well and finished them just as quickly as the ones the girl had given him.

"Wow, you sure are hungry." Gehl laughed. He fell silent and watched the wolves absently. Fae watched him too. "You know…I'm worried. I want to go on the run tonight…but I'm scared. We already lost two yesterday…Maybe I'm just a coward…" he was talking to them without really realizing it.

Fae stayed silent and Toboe licked his chops happily, looking over at the boxes, his nose twitching. But an annoyed voice started calling for Gehl and he looked around in surprise. Fae jumped up and whined at Toboe who stood up clumsily in his rush. By the time Gehl looked back around the two wolves were gone. Fae zigged and zagged back to the alley they had come out of. Her heart was beating fast and unevenly. It was Tsume who had called for Gehl. She didn't slow them down until they were a few blocks away.

"Hey Fae, what's the rush?" Toboe called, panting with all the running.

Fae slowed down and stopped, brushing her long hair out of her eyes. "We can stop now." She answered evasively. She took his Toboe's heaving chest and flushed face. "Are you sure you're a wolf and not a really fat Chihuahua?" she asked teasingly.

Toboe's face flushed even more and he bit the side of his cheek. "So I'm a little out of shape. But I am not a Chihuahua…" he muttered.

Fae couldn't help but laugh at his expression, which only made Toboe blush deeper.

_"Did I miss something?"_ Kai came trotting up to them then leapt onto Fae's shoulder.

Her heart rate back to normal and her mood improved, Fae set off with her two friends into the city to see what else could be done.

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**Next Day:**

Fae and Toboe wandered through the streets and found themselves in a slightly less disgusting part of town. There weren't as many high buildings and broken arches watched over a broken walk way. Some trees even grew on the side of the road. Toboe was laughing heartily when he suddenly stopped and looked around quickly. Without any explanation he took Fae's arm and pulled her behind one of the large arches. She was not amused.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?" she snapped angrily, jerking her arm out of his hand. He quickly shushed her at which her temper flared. But he wasn't paying attention to her, but looking around the pillar down the road. Fae looked around too and rolled her eyes. "Pssh, it's just that girl from before. Why do we have to hide?" she asked impatiently.

"I don't know…" Toboe muttered distractedly. He seemed to deliberate for a moment before hurrying out from behind the arch and leaning on it in plain view, arms behind his head in a nonchalant and stand offish way. Fae could barely stop from barking with laughter. Even Kai around her neck twitched with mirth.

The girl passed by Toboe with a contemptuous glance, sticking her nose up at him. Toboe balked before hurrying after her.

"Uhm, thanks a lot. For before." He said quickly, matching her stride. The girl looked over at him with a raised brow "Huh?"

"For the sausages." He hastened to explain.

Now the girl looked completely unamused and ready to tell him off.

"Uh, remember back in the alley? Well, that was my dog you gave them too." He said slowly, looking up and away from her as he lied.

Fae followed quietly behind shaking her head in disbelief that he was going through this much trouble to talk to a human.

The girl seemed to think for a moment before saying excitedly, "Oh! That beautiful dog belongs to you?" (Fae snorted)

Toboe's face slacked. "…beautiful?" His face became rapt with excitement again, "Yeah, yeah he's mine!"

"What about the other dog? What that one yours too? She didn't seem to like me." The girl said questioning.

"Uhhmmm…." Toboe glanced back at Fae who quirked a brow at him. "Errmmm…yeah…she's mine too…" he said softly and quickly, gulping at the look Fae gave him.

"So how did you know I gave them sausages?" she asked, stopping her walk.

"I uhhh…"

"He heard it from me. I'm his cousin." Fae piped in, stepping in beside Toboe.

The girl looked surprised at Fae's entrance and glanced behind her before looking at her again. "Oh? But I didn't see you."

"I work at the store across the way and saw you." Fae said with a shrug. With an inward smirk Fae said, "You know, you really shouldn't have fed that dog. It has mites and fleas. They're horrible, believe me." Fae said with wide, honest eyes.

Toboe's face flushed and his bit the inside of his cheek again, scowling at her. "He does not!" he said indignantly.

The girl laughed quietly. "What are their names any way?" she asked politely.

"The name's Toboe." Said Toboe with a smile.

"And Belle." Said Fae.

The girl smirked. "Toboe? What a weird name." she laughed.

Toboe laughed too. "Yeah, you think so? Yeah, I guess it is."

"Hehe, my name is Leara. What's yours?" she asked, mainly speaking to Toboe.

"I just said, the name's Toboe." He replied again. Fae rolled her eyes.

"But…I thought that was your dog's name." Leara said confusedly.

"Uhhh…well, we're so much alike I named him after me…" lied Toboe hurriedly.

"Yeah, same fleas and all." Said Fae with a smile.

Leara smiled. "You're pretty weird all right."

Toboe laughed happily, blushing lightly. Fae rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, but we really have to go. Buh-bye!" and with that she dragged a protesting Toboe away.

"Uhh...good bye." Leara called after them before walking off again.

When they were far enough away Fae let go of him and flicked his arm.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?" he asked with a pout.

"Well tell me what _that_ was for!" she asked angrily.

Toboe looked abashed and fixed his eyes on his shoes, scuffing the ground lightly. "Well, I just wanted to thank her for the hotdogs. She was really nice." He said back defensively. Then he looked back up and all the indigence was back in his eyes. "And I do _not_ have fleas!"

Fae laughed openly. "Yeah yeah, c'mon you 'beautiful puppy dog' you." She said crooningly and skipped off down another alley. Toboe growled before chasing after her light heartedly, growls giving way to laughs. Neither of them noticed the other person in the alley before they nearly walked into him. Fae gulped as she looked up at the white headed figure.

"Well hello." Said Tsume coldly.

Toboe didn't notice the tension. "Hey, wow! Another wolf!" he said happily.

Tsume glanced at him. "I see you picked up a stray." He drawled.

Fae stuck her nose up at him. "Yeah well, we can't all run around with a pack of idiotic humans." She said loftily.

Before he could reply they all turned to see a black dog with a spiked collar standing at the mouth of the alley, lips curled back in a vicious snarl.

A moment later a disheveled man in a long brown trench coat stumbled by carrying a bag full of liquor. "What is it Blue? You find something?" he mumbled. He looked up and over at the three wolves standing in the alley in disguise. Tsume was gone in an instant, leaping up the buildings. The man dropped his booze.

"Toboe, let's go." Fae said urgently. And with that, she was also tic-tacing up the building walls.

Fae reached the top of the building where Tsume stood. She glared over at him and then turned to Toboe…who wasn't there. Her eyes widening, Fae glanced around at the other building roof before throwing her head over the side to see him standing stock still, the man raising his gun. She had one foot over the side when she saw a blur of black go by her. She watched in astonishment as Tsume free fell in between the man and Toboe, slicing the man's hand savagely. And the next thing she knew, they were both leaping from side to side and then they were both next to her on the building.

Fae blinked in slow understanding. Toboe seemed to be in a slight daze as well. The only one who acted as though nothing had happened was Tsume who stood still glaring at Fae.

But he just turned away with a 'tch' and headed off over the roof tops.

This was too much. Too out of character for the black hearted, human loving, ass hole Tsume.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Fae shouted at him.

Tsume stopped walking but didn't turn around. "Well it was obvious you weren't going to help your stray." He replied slowly in a mocking tone.

Fae growled, clenching her fists. "So what, you suddenly go soft or something?" she was egging him on and she knew it. But she hadn't gotten a chance at Tsume on her own terms yet, and she was taking a shot now.

"I don't do 'soft,' pup." He drawled, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"It'd sure be nice if you treated some of your humans the same way. Why don't you try showering Gehl with some of your 'nurturing instincts?'" she growled

Something about his stance changed. He went rigid (for Tsume) and something in his scent changed, like an underlying current. He was silent for a moment.

"Gehl's dead."

Some humans were walking down the road a building down, chatting noisily. They sounded young and were arguing about school work. One wanted to do the project by hand and the other wanted to skip the mess and do it all on the computer. A bird flew by on incredibly noisy wings; snapping and drifting, fluttering and beating the air. The loudness of it was horrible.

And Fae continued to stand on the roof top, no more witty comebacks ready on her sharp tongue. It was as though she could hear the smallest insect crawling on the ground stories below them, but she couldn't have understood correctly what Tsume had said. She must have some kind of cold.

"What?" was that her voice?

"I said Gehl is dead."

"When?"

"Last night."

And then he turned around and walked calmly and collectedly across the roof. Fae's head hurt and her temples were pounding, but for once she didn't feel the need to rub them. Toboe stood behind her, unsure. He could sense something. He could sense it like he knew when a huge storm was coming. The sky darkening, the air becoming electrified, and he was squirming all day in anxious anticipation, just waiting for the storm to finally hit, watching it slowly gain strength, feeling the first faint rumbles of thunder that humans couldn't detect. He gulped and took a single step back.

"How could you?"

Her voice was a whisper, but Tsume heard it and continued walking. His bright yellow eyes were fixed firmly ahead of him and his boots thudded against the roof in regular intervals.

"He was scared."

Step. Step. Step.

"He didn't want to go."

Step. Step. Step. Step.

"He was only a pup."

And without realizing it, she knew her mistake. She had taken the young human in as thought a member of a substitute pack. Both outsiders in their own ways and both banding together in a small way to lend and borrow strength. That had been her mistake, as it usually was. And all the self loathing crashed down on her. But she couldn't bear it all, because that was too hard. And she ran away from her own fears and ghosts by charging at the figure she chose to let out her pain on.

With an air rendering snarl she was lunging at Tsume, jaws opened wide, saliva clinging to the warm, white incisors itching for stains. And he was turning to meet her; larger, stronger, and more experienced.

Like she cared.

And then there was a crazed, sickly rhythm of snapping, snarls, whines, roars, claws scrabbling, and flesh tearing. The splatter of blood made a morbid mosaic on the roof top.

And then she was on her back on the ground, skidding, and he was on her, snapping at her chest and neck. Her creamy chest was stained red, making it hard to distinguish between her choclatety brown main coat. But she was fighting to take her pain away and she was up again and latching herself onto his shoulder and thrashing. And then there was sharp pain in her scruff and she was pulled off and thrown and he was lunging after her; and was stopped.

Toboe stood between Tsume and Fae, shaking slightly staring down the big, grey wolf. But he kept his head up and tail even with the ground. And Tsume was snarling, glaring, and padding off without a backwards glance.

Toboe knelt down by Fae, worrying his upper lip. She was too badly torn up; just some bleeding lacerations on her chest and neck mostly. He could have done a lot worse if he wanted to. What was more worrying was what had happened before the fight and how she was just laying there panting now.

"Fae…c'mon, let's get out of here, ok?" he said softly so as not to startle her.

Her cold green eyes focused on his threateningly before she stood up, concentrating on doing it steadily and without any wobbling. She seemed torn for a minute before she dashed off over the side of the building and landed running down the alley. A small red form streaked off after her. And Toboe was left alone on the blood stained roof top.

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**Ahhh, cliffhanger and stuff! And what's this? Two updates in the same YEAR? Whoa. I hope you all like it! I'm working really hard and writing this with the WR characters in character, and keeping Fae in character as well!**

**Some things you need to know about her: She's a very dark brown wolf, all rich and chocolate like. She has a creamy espresso colored chest, front legs, and half her belly. I just thought you all deserved to know what she looked like, haha. **

**Also, she's not crazy (well…lol). But think of it this way: she's been alone most of he life with the only other wolf being Tsume. So it's natural that she would inadvertently bond to a kind hearted human and consider him pack. And then he dies and is gone forever and she feels alone again. (Poor Toboe doesn't count!) **

**So that's all! Please review!**


	4. Are You Scared?

**Hey all! Whew, long time no update. Then again, I usually go a year between updates, so I'm on a roll this time, haha. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. **

**Wolf's Rain © BONES**

**Fae and all other OCs © Redmoonfae**

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Toboe groaned. His feet ached, his head ached, and he was hungry again. He had been looking for Fae for hours. Endless hours it seemed. As he thought about it more he realized he had been looking for her all night. It was early morning now. But as much as he tried, he couldn't find her. It was like she had disappeared. Toboe sighed, a deep frown etching his tired face. There was also that horrible sound. Late in the night something had screamed, or cried, or howled with such pain and sadness it had made him scream too. He had held his hands over his ears, closed his eyes, and screamed with whatever was causing him so much pain. He shook it off and set his mind back to the task at hand.

"Where could she be…?" he muttered to himself.

He looked around him. Just another city alley way like all the other ones he had been through that day. He glanced behind him before clenching his fists and setting his face to a determined scowl. His claws clicked and his bracelets tingled as he trotted down the alley and into the open grassy field. He was going to find her if he had to look all day. A loud growl. He stopped in surprise and stood frozen. The next rumble made him jump. And then pant with relief. It was his stomach. His nose twitched as he caught the faint scent of a rodent, lurking somewhere in the grass in front of him.

_A small snack…just to give me some energy so I can keep looking for Fae. _He reasoned to himself.

He sank down into a crouch, sniffing at the air. There. Only a few yards ahead of him. He readied himself for the spring…and then something dove out of the sky at his meal. That something was a small grey falcon with fierce eyes. Its claws grabbed onto the rat and clenched the life out of it. The falcons gaze landed on Toboe.

_"Maybe next time, puppy."_ It sneered.

Toboe growled deep in his throat. He had had a bad night and a bad morning. He wasn't about to let some flimsy bird get away with mocking him. With a vicious snarl, he charged the bird. With a shriek of alarm, it unfurled its wings and attempted to get away. It became airborne before fangs encircled it. The falcon shrieked and fought free only to be pulled down and thrown onto the ground.

Toboe stood over his kill, lips curled back, waiting to see if the bird would try to escape again. But it did not. It was dead. Toboe's tail wagged low to the ground, proud of himself. But his happiness soon ended when he heard running footsteps come up behind him. He whirled around to see Leara staring at him in horror.

"My bird…" she whispered.

Toboe's ears flattened to his head in shame. He didn't know the bird belonged to Leara. He looked at the mass of bloody feathers lying at his feet. He noted absently that the bird at dropped the rat in its escape attempt. Before he could stop himself he was picking the bird up gently in human hands. He gulped as Leara let out a gasp of fear and shock and she took a step back. Toboe walked over to her with his head low.

"I'm sorry Leara…I didn't mean to…" he mumbled softly.

He wouldn't have been able to apologize in his natural form. He had to do this he reasoned to himself. He was in the wrong and was trying to make it right.

The girl stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. A deer in the headlights. Her bottom lip shook and her eyes grew wet and glassy. She took another step back. Toboe frowned harder and looked at the bird in his hands. He tried to hand it to her but she stumbled away from him. Toboe looked away. He lay the bird down gently at her feet and took a step back. Before he knew it, he was raising his muzzle to the sky to let out a long, low, hollow sound. All his sadness and frustration from the night came pouring out of him to dance in the air above him before dissipating into nothing once more. He took a breath and continued to howl.

He yelped when a hand clamped down painfully on the scruff of his neck and carried him away from the weeping girl.

* * *

Fae stared blankly at the wall in front of her. She sighed and shifted to a more comfortable position, ears laid flat against her skull. She lay in a concrete 'tube' that was attached to the side of a building. There were many more like it attached to this particular wall and many more attached to many more walls around the city. They lead underneath the city to create a network of sewer tunnels; a handy place to catch rats or lay low from angry wolves and humans.

She was tired. Emotionally, physically…just tired. She still couldn't believe that the only other creature she had considered pack aside from Kai was gone. Forever. Fae whined and curled in on herself tighter, burying her nose in the fur of her belly. She could have prevented it. She could have spoken with him. Told him not to go on the dumb mission. He would still be alive if she had been more attentive. She whined again, closing his eyes tightly. And that sound last night. That terrible sound. It had ripped her from her bitter thoughts with a vengeance and made her feel as though her heart were being torn into small pieces. She whined again, louder this time.

Kai lay next to her in the tunnel, offering silent support. His blue eyes never wavered from staring at her. Now his overly large ears perked up. He jerked his head up and stared out from the tunnel. He listened. There is was again. He yipped to Fae to get her attention. She didn't react. He yipped louder and standing, leapt out of the tube. Now Fae's eyes opened and she turned to look out as well. Her ears perked up and she inch wormed closer to the edge. Now she could hear it too. A low, long, sad, howl. Toboe's howl.

Fae whined and jumped from the tube, claws clicking on the stone ground. She listened intently, but the howling stopped. She sighed and turned to climb back into tunnel.

_"Are you just going to sulk the rest of your life?"_

Fae stopped and turned to look at Kai. _"I'm allowed to sulk."_ She said back in a monotone.

Kai snorted and rubbed his nose with a paw. _"What's done is done. You can't change anything about it now. Might as well move on." _

Fae sniffed. _" I could've helped him. He'd still be alive if I had done something." _

_ "Maybe. But there's no point in thinking about it because the fact is nothing was done by anyone and he's dead. But we're alive and so is that pup out there howling for the world to hear."_

Fae sighed and looked down the exit of the alleyway. Now that she thought of it, she felt bad for just leaving Toboe while she ran off. She sighed again. She felt obligated to find him and keep him out of trouble. Pushing sad thoughts and memories aside, she trotted out of the alleyway in search of Toboe. Kai raced after her, leapt onto her back and curled up for the ride.

* * *

Fae grumbled to herself. She had looked around for hours and hadn't found the pup anywhere. She wiped her bleeding lip with the back of her hand, annoyed. The humans were much more active today than usual. They were catching gangs left and right and attacking anyone wandering around alone. But now they were even worse. Fae suspected this may have had something to do with the noise from last night. But that didn't give them the damn right to attack _her. _

She had been searching around for Toboe in some alley when the humans had cornered her.

"What're you doing out by yourself?" one had asked. He had a ruddy face and beady eyes. He was dressed in the usual uniform of a white trench coat thing and helmet, complete with beating stick. Fae hated him instantly.

"And why the fuck would I tell you?" she answered back blandly.

That had ruffled his feathers.

"You can't talk to an officer like that! How dare you!" he spluttered out. The other guards also voiced their anger at her choice of words.

"Well if what you're saying is true, then I just defied the laws of physics." Fae replied, getting more annoyed. "And I dare because I know that there isn't a single God damn thing any of you bastards can do to stop me." She snarled.

With a roar of fury, the guards launched themselves at her. She had easily evaded them, but one got in a fluke shot at her as he flailed his arms up in an attempt to protect his face. His nightstick and smacked Fae smartly on the face, bruising her cheek and splitting open her lip. She had made sure he paid for that.

Now she walked along a narrow catwalk above the buildings. Kai had draped himself over her shoulders and was dozing lightly. She walked with her hands in her pockets, deftly putting one foot in front of the other. Just then something big and black leapt in front of her. Fae blinked in surprise to see the black dog with the spike collar snarling at her. A leash dangled from the collar, suggesting she had broken free of her human.

"Well. This is surprise. Who knew fat dogs could jump so high? But can they fly?" Fae said thoughtfully, voice turning into a snarl at the end of her sentence.

The black dog lowered her head more and snarled louder before launching herself at Fae. Fae raced forward as well, planning on leaping over her and continuing on her way. She misjudged the dog's skills. As Fae leapt, so did the dog, biting down hard on Fae's thigh, teeth easily ripping through denim and skin until hot blood ran freely down her shin. The shock of it made her miss her landing and send her diving dizzily to the ground.

* * *

Toboe ran blindly, following after the tall figure in front of him with the silver hair. Finally Tsume slowed down and stopped, looking back at Toboe. Toboe skidded to a clumsy stop, gasping for breath.

"Wh-who was that guy? Why did he-he tell those men wher-where you were?" he asked between ragged breaths.

"Just some stupid human without the common sense to keep his mouth shut." Tsume growled dangerously.

Toboe gulped in the face of his anger. Tsume had been the one to carry him away from Leara and bring him back to his 'den' by the big tree. They had spoken, albeit very little, and Toboe found he liked this scowling wolf, although he didn't have very nice things to say about Fae when Toboe had asked him if he had seen her.

Tsume had said he had business to attend to and left, Toboe following after him with little else to do. But before they had gotten very far three humans with long sticks came chasing after them. Tsume had run right past them, leaving Toboe to belatedly follow as he leapt up at a rock overhang to knock out one human and pin down another.

Toboe had gathered that this was one of the humans belonging to Tsume's pack and that he had done something bad. But Tsume had let him live before leaping off again, once more leaving Toboe to follow after. Then they had run further away, Tsume leading over buildings and through alleys. And so here they were now. They were in a wider and more open area between two buildings. An overflowing trash can with raucous crows stealing bits of food from each other against one wall and a manhole in the center. And now that manhole was being pushed up and a head appeared beneath it.

"Hmm…must've made a wrong turn…" the head said. Then it turned to look at Toboe and Tsume who stared back at it. "Oh hey! Two of our own!" he said excitedly. His hair was an orangey brown, his eyes cinnamon colored. He was chubby and had a big grin on his face. A grin that disappeared as he was pushed out of the manhole and onto the ground.

"Would you move already?" said a muffled voice as a second head appeared out of the manhole. It was Kiba. "That's the last time I trust your nose."

"Hey! Anyone's nose would go numb after a night in that dump!" the chubby wolf shot back defensively.

Toboe blinked before smiling widely. "Hey! You guys are wolves! So are we!"

Kiba pulled himself fully out of the manhole. Toboe looked at the gaping hole in the ground, fervently hoping that a third head would appear. And that that head would belong to Fae. But Kiba replaced the lid back to the hole and straightened up, crushing Toboe's hopes.

Tsume glared at Kiba with narrowed golden eyes. Kiba sensed eyes on him and looked back at Tsume evenly. Then his glance moved away to see the young human girl staring at all of them.

Toboe followed his gaze and saw "Leara!"

At the sound of his voice, the girl grew rigid and shook, eyes opened wide and teeth clenched.

Toboe frowned sadly. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I didn't mean to hurt your bird…" he said softly.

Leara continued to shake, clutching the brown paper bag closer to her chest. "Daddy….daddy….DADDY!!" she yelled loudly. "Come quick, it's here! The wolf is here!"

* * *

A man buying some groceries heard his daughter yell. "Leara! Where are you!?" he cried. He ran off in the direction of her cries.

Another man also heard her yells. His eyes widened and he went to follow the man to his daughter and the wolf. But his dog suddenly balked and would not budge. "Blue! Damnit!" the man yelled. He threw down the dog's collar and pulled out his gun, running after the man. The dog snarled and raced off in the other direction. She had caught the familiar scent of a female wolf.

* * *

Toboe was startled at her out cry, and then grew nervous when he heard footsteps running toward them.

"C'mon, let's get outta here." The chubby wolf said.

Kiba nodded and followed him quickly around a corner and down another alley where tunnels were in the walls. The chubby wolf selected one and climbed in, followed by Kiba. Tsume followed them also. He had a bone to pick.

When Toboe turned around, they were all gone. He raced toward the other alley where the tunnels in the wall were. There were so many of them. He didn't know which one to take.

"Daddy! Come quick!" he heard Leara cry again. She was coming this way.

Toboe gulped and turned to face her. When she turned into the alley she skidded to a stop in surprise and then went rigid again.

Toboe took a step toward her. "Leara…why did you cry out like that?" he asked sadly.

Leara backed up. "No! Stay away! There's something wrong with you. You're not normal!" she yelled at him.

"Leara please! I showed you because I wanted to apologize! I'm sorry!"

"Ah! Don't come any closer!"

Now Toboe was mad. He glared at her, hurt. "Why? Didn't you come here to catch me?" he reached a hand toward her. She flailed at him, crying out, before falling backward. Toboe watched and immediately felt bad.

"Hey, c'mon runt!"

He turned around to the chubby wolf sticking his head out of a tunnel. Toboe looked back at Leara before crawling after him.

* * *

And now they were in the sewers. Toboe wrinkled his nose. He could sense tension between Tsume and Kiba, but no one said anything.

"My name's Hige by the way. And the broody one is Kiba." The chubby wolf said to them both. Hige looked back to see Toboe pouting. "Hey runt, what's eating you?" he asked.

Toboe glared at him. "I am not a runt. My name's Toboe." He said angrily.

"And what's your name?" Hige asked Tsume.

When he said nothing, Toboe answered, "This is Tsume."

"Wow, we've practically got enough for a pack now. Paradise, here we come!" Hige said, pumping his fist.

Toboe stopped suddenly. "Paradise? You guys are really going there? Cool!" he said excitedly.

"You bet it's cool! My man Kiba here is gonna lead us to the best place imaginable." Hige said with a huge grin.

Toboe smiled back before frowning. He stopped walking."Hey...do you guys know Fae?" he asked hopefully.

The others stopped as well, looking back at him.

"Fae? That's a girl's name! You mean there's a wolf babe in this city?" Hige asked excitedly. "Where is she, huh?" he asked, eyes bright.

"I know her."

Hige and Toboe both looked at Kiba.

"What the hell man? You knew a babe this whole time? You've been holding out on me!" Hige said, indignant.

"Stop calling her that! Her name's Fae!" Toboe piped in angrily.

Before Hige could reply Kiba said, "Yeah, I met her. What about her?"

Toboe looked back at him and ignored Hige. "Well, I thought she might want to come with us." Toboe said sheepishly.

"Well why isn't she with you now if you two are such good friends?" Hige asked sulkily.

Toboe glanced at Tsume who was looking the other way. "Well um…we sort of got separated…" Toboe mumbled.

"You try making a move on her or something? Huh? Huh?" Hige said sneakily, poking Toboe in the ribs, making him flush scarlet and splutter a denial.

Kiba had walked off and was examining something red on the ground. A trail of blood led from a latter-way down the sewers.

"We'll find her." Kiba said, cutting short Hige and Toboe's argument. Toboe smiled brightly and Hige smirked, eyes dazed, off in lala land where he imagined a land filled with babes, all after him.

Tsume made a 'tch' noise. "Don't bother. She's not worth running around the city looking for. The humans are crawling everywhere. It's not worth it." He stated flatly.

Toboe looked at him in disbelief. "Don't say that! Just because you two don't get along doesn't mean we can just leave her behind while we go to Paradise!" he said heatedly. Tsume didn't reply.

"Come on." Kiba said after a moment, following the trail of blood.

* * *

Fae sat in the corner of a broken down slate building. The sun was fading fast and it was already past dusk. A trail of blood followed her into the building and made a puddle underneath her. Since she had continued running, walking, and limping, the wound from the dog hadn't healed. Her green eyes were closed, her head lolled back against the wall. She was exhausted.

After the dog had bitten her, they had free fallen into a huge pile of cardboard boxes. This had broken their fall enough that they hadn't been killed. Fae had run off as more officer humans filed into the alley to investigate the noise. After that she had quickly found a wall-tunnel into the sewers and made her way through the city away from wary eyes. And now she didn't want to think about moving anymore.

Kai licked at the wound on her thigh, cleaning up some of the blood. The full moon was a long way off.

Suddenly Kai leapt up, the fur along his back standing straight up, his tail puffing out behind him. Fae's eyes snapped open as she fumbled into a defensive standing position. The door to the building creaked open to reveal the last person she expected to see. Kiba.

Behind him came a wolf she had never met, Toboe, and then Tsume. She was shocked to say the least.

"Wow, what a crap heap. Why the hell you'd bring us here?" the wolf Fae hadn't met said.

"What…?" Fae couldn't even think of what to say.

"Oh hey! Wow! You _are_ a babe!" said the cubby wolf. "Toboe, this her?" he asked, eyeing Fae. She growled.

"Hige, leave her alone!" Toboe snapped. Toboe walked over to Fae cautiously. "Hey…you look really hurt." He glanced at her bleeding leg.

"I'm fine. What the hell is going on?" she growled, looking at the other three wolves warily. Her gaze lingered on Tsume, turning into a glare. He glared right back.

"I could smell your blood in the sewers. We followed it here." Kiba explained calmly.

"And why the hell would you do that?" she snapped. She ignored Tsume's comment of 'charming as ever.'

"We're all going to Paradise!" Toboe exclaimed happily.

Fae froze. Paradise…

"That's just a stupid pup fairy tale." She said quickly. "It doesn't exist."

"Whether you think it exists or not doesn't matter. We're going and you're invited to come too." Kiba said.

"We can't live here with the humans anymore Fae. Look what they did to you." Toboe said, looking at the bruise on her cheek and the split lip.

Fae didn't answer. Her mind was reeling. Memories that had been blocked for years came bubbling to the surface with a vengeance, threatening to engulf her completely. Her pack, her mother and father, Paradise…

She shook her head viciously to clear her mind.

"Hey, I don't mean to be a kill joy, but there's a nasty stink heading this way…" Hige said, looking out the window carefully. Troops were stationed all around the area, holding cocked guns and waiting.

"Tch. We're surrounded." Tsume stated.

"Let me ask you guys this. Why did you come to this city?" Kiba asked quietly. "It was because of the flower scent, wasn't it?"

Nobody answered and no one looked at each other.

"Well it's gone now. There's no reason to stay."

"This is my home. I can't leave." Fae stated.

"Yes you can. You're just too scared to do it." Kiba replied.

Fae growled back at him. "So now you think you know me?" she snapped. "The last time we met you said something about how your pride wouldn't let you pass as a human. Well you passed as one then and you're doing it now. Where'd your pride go?"

"Nowhere. Nothing has changed."

"Do you have any idea what leaving the city will mean? You'll all just die." Fae said evenly.

"Possibly. Everyone's gonna die. It's a natural part of life. But if life has no purpose you're dead already."

Fae stood staring at him. She couldn't leave. She had fought so hard to be here. Everyone had died trying to get here. And there was nothing natural about their deaths. Before she could answer, a blinding light shot through the window and the sound of gun fire made Fae cringe. Kai leapt onto her shoulder, hissing.

"Come on!" Kiba turned and rushed out the door, followed quickly by Hige. Tsume snorted and raced after them. "Come on Fae. We gotta go." Toboe whined. He grabbed her hand and pulled, forcing her to walk. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and clenched her jaw. They both ran out the door. The bullets whizzed by them, making Fae feel as though there was a bee hive in her skull. Toboe ran on the pipe walkway next to her, a sheer drop in between them. Fae could see Tsume ahead of her.

She clenched her teeth and tried to ignore the screaming pain in her leg. Just then a bullet hit right in front of her, making her slip. And then she was over empty air and her arm shot out to latch onto the piping, pulling loosea section, jarring her as it threatened to tear off completely, barely holding her up. Kai yowled, claws scrabbling all over her back, shoulder, and neck as he fought to stay on. She cried out.

"Fae!" Toboe skidded to a stop, but he couldn't reach her in time.

Tsume had stopped as well and turned to see Fae dangling over the side. And suddenly he didn't see Fae hanging there, he saw Gehl. And he was racing toward her. He knelt down and didn't see Gehl anymore, but Fae again. He hesitated for a split second, the reached down to grab her. Fae winced as sharp fangs dug into her shoulder, but she let him pull her up. She knelt across from him, rubbing her shoulder.

"Thanks…" she said uncertainly.

Tsume looked away, then got up and raced off again, leaping to another pipe to run on.

"Fae come on!" Toboe cried.

Fae got up and ran on, jumping after Tsume. She was deaf to Toboe's cries. Soon she caught up to Tsume.

"What the hell are you following me for?" Tsume snarled at her over the thunder of the guns.

"Making sure someone sane comes along on this field trip." Fae shouted back. Tsume didn't reply.

It wasn't long before the bullets stopped whizzing by. Now they were running over a small forest beneath them. They ran through a tunnel. When they came out the other side, Fae could hear Toboe shouting happily. Tsume leapt up after them. Fae hesitated, glaring up at Kiba who looked back evenly.

"This way!" he shouted. That and the sound of more gunshots had Fae leaping from ledge to ledge up to them. They had made it to the edge of the city. A fog of snow roared just at the end of the platform. Kiba leapt off without hesitation. Hige followed suit and Tsume after him. Toboe skid to a stop and looked down worriedly. Fae shoved him over. He landed stories below with a thud and a moan.

Fae looked down and gulped. She glanced behind her, back to the city that had been her home. The city that had called to her and saved her life. The city that her pack had died trying to reach. A bullet bit the ground next to her. Another shot by her arm.

"Fae! Come on!" Toboe shouted up.

"Jump already!" Hige yelled.

And she heard Kiba's voice in her head or maybe he had spoken. It might have been Kai. She couldn't tell. _"Are you scared?" _

Clenching her fists, she launched herself off of the platform, the roar of the wind in her ears as she fell worse than the sound of the guns behind her. She landed without stumbling despite her wound. As soon as she landed, Kiba turned and raced off, his white fur blending into the snow all around them. Hige leapt after him followed by a reluctant Tsume. Toboe stood and looked at Fae who glared back.

"Come on. I don't feel like freezing here." She said gruffly.

Toboe smiled and they headed toward their future together.

* * *

**Whoo. Finished this all in one sitting. I really wanted to get the next chapter up because everyone has been waiting so patiently and because I received so many beautiful reviews. They really are what keep me going with this. They make me want to pump out three chapters a day. Sorry if this chapter is a little confusing or choppy. The parts where Fae is bitten by the dog and Leara finds Toboe are going on at the same time in the story. I'm sorry if that wasn't clear. Please please please please review! Reviews are my energy source to write this! I hope you liked it!**

**I'm really nervous on how you all liked this one. It was really hard to write all the pack meeting up with eachother.**


	5. The Stone

**WooHoo! New chapter man! I think you'll all like this. I put a lot of thought and effort into it. Now the story can start breaking apart from the anime more. Enjoy! And dear lord. Two chapters in one week!? Guh.**

**And oh man, you guys are going to LOVE chapter 22. (I think that's what it will be) I know, it's ridiculous I have that chapter done and nothing in between. But that's my favorite episode in the anime (the big walrus fight) I'm so ANXIOUS to post it here! But I'm a long, long way off…sigh. But rest assured you will LOVE IT. Because I absolutely loved writing it, eheh. **

**Enough of that! Enjoy THIS chapter!**

**Wolf's Rain © BONES**

**Fae and all other OCs © Redmoonfae**

* * *

And so they ran.

None of them knew how long they ran. The sun was always obscured by clouds or snow. They ran until it had stopped snowing. They ran until the ground changed beneath them and the air warmed marginally. Their paws left marks in sand and dirt instead of snow. And still they ran.

Worse than the never changing schedule of the days was the hunger. It seemed their growing hunger was the only way to tell any time in this barren landscape. Their strength was waning and their spirits lowered.

And for what seemed like the thousandth time since they had left the city, the now familiar groan of, _"Gaaaaaaah….I'm so hungry…can we _please_ stop?"_

But unlike all of those other times, the white form in front began to slow until he was stopped. The others slowed and stopped as well when they realized they were finally resting.

Kiba turned toward them to regard the one responsible for the halt. Hige.

_ "There's nothing out here to eat. We'll have to wait till we get to the next town." _He explained evenly.

Hige whined and his rear end slumped to the ground. _"Well who knows when that'll be? Just gimme a second to sniff around. I'm sure I'll find something."_ And with that, he was up and circling the area, nose to the sandy ground beneath their paws.

Toboe yawned widely, a high pitched cry issuing from his throat. _"I'm so glad we get to rest…"_ he mumbled before flopping down on his belly and closing his eyes with a contented wuffle.

Tsume snorted and remained standing, turning his head to look out over the landscape. If he was looking for anything, he was sorely disappointed; there wasn't a sign of anything around them for miles and miles. Just wave after wave of undulating sand dunes as far as the eye could see. A wind was picking up, making the sand dance and skip across itself, pick itself up and twirl in circles before being dropped down and picked up again. Darkened clouds gathered on the horizon, bringing a promise of violence.

A dark brown form shifted from paw to uneasy paw. Fae's green eyes narrowed as she surveyed the landscape. She noted the clouds in the far distance with suspicious disdain and continued to let her eyes sweep over the land. It was so open and so quiet. Nothing but the sound of the wind and Hige's noisy sniffing. She felt overly visible and vulnerable in such a wide expanse of nothing. She wanted to keep moving and get to the next city fast. She looked at the black clouds again.

_"We should start moving again."_ She said, looking over at Kiba.

_"Yes." _Kiba replied._ "Come on Hige, we need to go-" _

_ "Holy crap I got something! I can definitely smell something coming from that direction. Come on, let's go! Oh man, I hope its hotdogs!" _Hige pranced in place and yipped happily before setting off with renewed energy down the dune they had been traveling on. He slipped once and skidded down before continuing his forward movement.

Kiba hesitated for a moment before following Hige, going down the dune with a few well placed leaps, avoiding the slide Hige had had. Tsume growled low in his throat before charging after them.

Toboe looked sadly after them. _"We're moving already? But we only just stopped…"_ he whined.

Fae sidled over to where he lay and nipped at his haunches. Toboe jumped up and skipped away with an indignant yelp. Kai, from his draped position of Fae's neck, snorted and shook his head.

_"No time to whine. If tubby smells food, then I'll follow him and so will you. Come on!" _Fae said before bounding after the rest of the boys, their forms growing smaller and smaller into the distance.

* * *

Fae was getting annoyed when they didn't reach their new destination quickly. Or relatively quickly. In fact, they may as well have still been running their original course for all the progress they made. And she wasn't the only one growing frustrated.

_"Hey porky, your nose not working right or something?"_ Tsume growled.

Hige flicked his tail dismissively. _"I know what I smelt. It can't be too much farther…"_ he said uncertainly.

_"You better be right or I'll-"_

Unfortunately, they never found out what exactly Tsume would do to him because in that instant Toboe let out a yelp.

_"Hey guys! I see something! Come here!" _he howled. His tail was wagging crazily from having found something before the others.

Obligingly, they all trotted over to where Toboe was and looked. Just down the dune they were on was a small settlement. No more than ten buildings dotted the otherwise empty landscape, but they were a welcome sight for sore eyes.

"Hey! I bet they have food down there!" Hige said excitedly before slipping and sliding his way down the dune. With a laugh, Toboe slid down behind him.

"Idiots are gonna break their damn necks…" muttered Tsume. With a sigh, he started his more sedated descent to the buildings.

Fae glanced behind her to see the advance of the clouds. They had grown larger and darker since she had last checked them. They worried her. She saw that Kiba was also looking at the clouds. They looked at each other.

"Let's get to the houses." Kiba said. Fae nodded. They descended together.

Close up the buildings were a much less welcome sight. They were all of them beaten and battered. Any paint that might have adorned them had been peeled and shorn away from the sides save for a few discolored patches dotting tucked away corners. The buildings were all on the small side. In the center of the tiny square was a circular something made of stone. A pile of sand inhabited one side completely, the wind brushing the top into the center and down down down.

None of them had ever seen anything like it. Toboe looked down first, sniffing at is curiously. "I…I think I smell water…" he said uncertainly.

"What would water be doing down a hole in a desert?" Hige questioned, shaking his head. "You need to get your nose checked runt."

Before they could start arguing Fae stepped up to the stone surrounded hole and sniffed delicately. Mostly sand and age. Mold and decay. But also…yes, a very faint scent of water. "He's right. Either there's water down here now or there used to be." She said, leaning over the hole to get a better look at its depth.

"Watch out, or you might fall in." Tsume sneered suggestively.

Fae looked up and glared at him. "Ladies first." She drawled, stepping away and mocking a bow to Tsume. He snarled.

"No one is going down there. We need to split up and see if we can find any food." Kiba interjected before anyone could 'fall' down the stone hole.

"Tch." Tsume turned from them all and walked lazily down the row of buildings, entering one at random.

"Food food food..." Hige said as though it was a mantra. He hurriedly started sniffing around before rushing into a building.

Kiba was already starting his own search. Fae was about to follow suit before Toboe grabbed her arm. She glanced back at him and quirked a brow. He let go quickly, flushing.

"Erm…uh...I was wondering if maybe we could um…look together. Just so we don't miss anything." He said in a rush, rubbing his nose and looking off to the side.

Fae stifled a laugh and motioned with her head. "Come on. Let's see if we can find some food before tubby." Toboe brightened and hurried after her as she entered one of the larger buildings.

Her nose wrinkled at the scent of age, mold, decay, and dust. Kai's tail flicked in distaste. Nowhere was safe from the sand. It was everywhere. Covering the floor in a fine dust, heaping in piles in the corners of the room. Clearly no one had lived here in quite a while.

The room was plain. Only an upturned table in the center of the floor and a few broken chairs strewn the floor. The two windows were broken and covered in a layer of grime. A narrow stairway lead up. Toboe followed close to Fae.

"This place is creepy…" Toboe muttered. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he stepped on something and a resounding crack echoed off the empty walls. He skipped away from whatever it was, a hand on his chest. Fae rolled her eyes.

She walked over to where he had been and bent over, examining something on the ground. She carefully picked it up. Underneath the sand was glass. Being mindful of the broken edges, she reached into the sand and picked up…something. After letting the sand trail off, she found she had picked up an old photograph. The glass was cracked and small pieces fell off the frame when she upturned it to remove the sand. Toboe had crept back over to peer over her shoulder. The photo was very old and the details were obscure. But they could see that it was a photo of a family; a father, mother, and small son.

"They must have been the ones to live here." Fae said thoughtfully. She put the photo frame back on the ground and stood up. "Come on. Let's check out the upstairs." She heard Toboe gulp.

Fae tested the stairs one foot at a time. She didn't feel like falling through a rotten stairway. The steps protested noisily against their weight, but otherwise held up. The stairs led to a single room. There was a bed with only three legs leaning against the wall, having been upturned in a hurry. A shelf lay shattered on the floor, old books flung in every direction.

"It looks like bandits got to this place first…" Fae said softly. She couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the family that lived here. She sighed and shook her head. "Come on, there's nothing here but dust." Fae said, motioning to Toboe to follow her back downstairs. He did so with pleasure.

As they were about to leave, Fae saw something in one of the corners of the house. Curious, she walked over to it. A groan of protest was all she heard before she was falling.

She hit the ground hard before she had the chance to cry out. Sand followed her from the gaping hole in the floor, trailing down slowly and piling on and around her. She vaguely heard Toboe shouting in alarm. She moaned and rubbed her head.

Sitting up, she looked around. She had fallen into a cellar underneath the house. She deftly wondered if the entrance from the outside had been buried underneath the sand. Looking up, she could see how completely rotted out the floor was. It was amazing they hadn't fallen in upon entering the house.

"I'm fine…" she called up to Toboe exasperatedly. The way he was yelling you'd think she had fallen off the side of the Earth. She had a short coughing spasm, the dust, mildew, and sand combining to make a deadly mate. Once everything began to settle, Fae stood up shakily. Her ankle was sore, but nothing horrible. It was dark in the basement, the weak light from outside not being enough to penetrate this hidden world. She could hear various insects scuttling around the floor and she wrinkled her nose in distaste.

She walked around carefully, eyes completely dilated, trying to see anything of interest. She stopped suddenly when she heard a crack from beneath her right foot. She took a step back and bent down to pick up what she had stepped on. A bone. A human bone. Fae dropped it in surprise and looked down. There were a lot of human bones around the floor.

Most of the pieces were still in the general locations of where they would be if a human was laying down. Two adults and a child. Fae shivered, taking multiple steps back. Well, now she knew what had happened to the family. She looked at the walls and saw that there was a stair leading to a cellar door. Walking over to it, she tried to open it. It wouldn't budge.

Fae sighed. It made sense now. The family had come down here to avoid something and was then trapped when the sand covered the door to the outside. She wondered how many other families had suffered the same fate. Luckily, she wouldn't have to. After looking around the room and found nothing else, she leapt out of the hole in the floor. She found that Hige had decided to join them.

"See kid? She's fine. Geeze, you were acting like she died." Hige said shaking his head. His gaze then looked over Fae and he smirked. "But if you need me to check you out and make sure you're ok…"

Fae glared at him. "Not on your life, tubby." She growled.

Hige frowned. "I am not tubby. It's the sweatshirt. And the fur. It makes me look bigger than I am." He said defensively.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. You find anything to eat with that fat nose of yours?"

Hige 'hmphed' and turned away. "Like I would give you any…" he grumbled.

Toboe just looked at Fae with relief. "I'm sorry, he was the first one I found." He explained.

Fae sighed. "That wasn't even an eight foot fall. I'm fine. Come on, let's find the others."

Kiba had had no better luck in the food finding. They all met near the stone hole. Tsume though had better luck. He came out of a house carrying with him a small pile of cans.

"Looks like this is what we came all this way to find. Great job, porky." He growled, dropping the cans at their feet.

"Hey, it's food isn't it?" Hige snapped. He picked a can up and sniffed at it. His look was uncertain. "It is food, isn't it…?"

Kiba reached down and picked one up. He looked at it before biting down on one side. He peeled the aluminum apart to reveal carrots. "It's not much, but it is food." He said.

The rest followed suit and picked up a can each. Fae peeled hers apart to find green, shriveled things. She wrinkled her nose at it before eating it quickly.

They had barely finished when a huge blast of wind raced through the row of buildings to slam into them. It brought with it stinging sand that made the five wolves squint and cover their faces. The wind stopped only to be followed by a fiercer blast. Fae squinted at the sky. Sure enough, the black clouds were right over them.

"Come on!" She shouted over the roar. "I know where we can go!" She turned and led the way back to the house where she had fallen through the ground. The wind made a queer whistling noise as it made its way through the cracks in the walls and the windows. Fae leapt into the cellar, landing on her feet this time. The boys followed, shaking off the layer of sand that had taken up residence in their clothes and hair.

The wind became a dull roar outside, howling through the house and throwing sand against the walls.

"We can stay here till it stops." Fae said. Kiba nodded and continued to examine their temporary sanctuary.

Even though they hadn't seen it all day, they knew when the sun went down. The temperature dropped dramatically, proving that even deserts could be cold. Fae's teeth chattered and a small puff of air left her mouth. The dank cellar only made things worse. Somehow water had found its way here and rotted out the place, making it even colder. At least they were out of the sand storm.

Fae huddled down even more, Toboe lying curled against her side and shivering. He was curled facing her and so his muzzle was half buried in her own fur. His shivering steadied as their combined body heat warmed him. Hige whined and belly crawled closer to them, sidling his way toward Fae's unprotected flank. Her lip curled at him, but she knew that they would all need to huddle together to stay warm through the night. He settled himself in next to her and placed his head on his paws, looking at her with puppy dog eyes. She ignored him. Even Kiba lay with them, sleek white body curled in on itself. Tsume didn't join them, but he stayed close. Fae sighed before laying her head down on Toboe's shoulder. Kai lay curled between her paws, most of his body hidden from view by his huge tail. Fae's eyes slowly drifted shut until the roar from outside became little more than a whisper and the whole world turned black.

* * *

The storm lasted a lot longer than any of them had thought it could. Every couple of hours one would be sent up to check out what was going on. Every time they returned to say nothing had changed and they were still stuck. Hige and Toboe sat against one wall, both with dazed expressions.

"How long has it been since we ate?" Toboe whined quietly.

"Dunno…two days maybe?" Hige replied with a moan.

"Two days? That's a long time…"

"Yeah I know…I'm dyin' over here."

"How are we going to get out of here?"

"We'll probably just die down here…"

"Would both of you shut the hell up."

Fae and Tsume looked at each other in disgust after sharing a sentence. They looked away quickly.

"We're not going to die down here. So just shut up, both of you." Fae growled. Hunger and boredom were forcing her temper out into the open. She had already snapped at Toboe earlier and punched Hige hard in the arm.

"But how the hell are we gonna get out, huh?" Hige asked.

Fae looked away and up at the hole in the floor. She could still hear the dull roar from outside. "We'll get out." Was all she said.

"And what the hell are we gonna do after that? Go to 'Paradise?' Feh, just some idiot's fairy tale. We'll probably all die chasing out tails around." Tsume snarled bitterly. "And if it comes down to it, we could always eat each other. Start off with the runt 'cause he's so weak. Porky outgha hold us over for a while. And we can't forget the little bitch." He went on with a smirk.

Toboe stared at him with wide eyes and Hige eyed him warily. Fae growled loudly.

"Hey ass hole, keep your damn mouth shut. Every time you talk makes me want to punch you harder and harder, so watch it leather boy." She snarled.

Before Tsume could answer Toboe piped in, "Hey, how come Kiba's not on the menu?"

"Because the guy's full of crap." Tsume snarled back, ignoring Fae.

Kiba looked over from his corner to glare at Tsume. "If you think this is just a journey to our deaths, why did you come?" he asked.

"Tch. I don't have to answer you." Tsume sneered. He looked away and grumbled to himself angrily.

Fae listened to this exchange without comment. She believed in Paradise about as much as Tsume did. But she wasn't about to side with him, oh no. It wasn't only that she didn't believe it existed, but she believed that if it did, it was only a hell waiting for them. No Paradise.

It happened so suddenly she didn't realize it at first. The roaring from outside had stopped. Fae jumped up with an exclamation. The others looked at her before coming to the same realization.

"Finally!" Hige yelled, jumping up and then out of the hole in the floor. Everyone clambered to get out as well.

"Wow…I didn't think this place could look any crappier than before…" Fae commented.

The whole floor was completely covered in sand now. One window was entirely gone with no sign of glass on the ground. Tiny holes speckled the walls and the table lying on its side. When Kiba went to examine it they saw that the sand had buried itself into the wood.

"We can keep going now. That is, unless you think we're better off here." Kiba said, directing his comment to Tsume who just glared back.

Fae rolled her eyes and headed out the door. Luckily, there had never been an actual door, just an open area where one should have been. She climbed over the small mound of sand that had built itself up over the past days. She peeked out into the bright outside to see that everything had been transformed. The stone hole in the center of the town was gone. One house seemed to almost be completely buried. It was bizarre to say the least.

The boys followed her out to also stand blinking in the sudden light and their changed surroundings. Fae wandered off around the house, Kai trotting at her side, looking around at the sand warped world. She turned a corner around a house and stopped walking. Kai stopped as well, tail flicking. Though the sand had covered most of the surrounding area, it had also uncovered something. And that something was only a few feet away from Fae now.

Fae walked cautiously closer to the unearthed treasure. She wiped away the residual sand and took a step back to look at it.

It was a stone sculpture of some sort. It was tall and ovular, made of some kind of stone. The sand had worn away some of the details, but whatever stone it was made of was resistant. On the stone was a story portrayed through beautiful carvings. At the top it showed a sphere and around the sphere were different phases of the moon. Moving down the stone picture it showed a wolf howling and from its breath the figure of a human. Beneath that was a pack of wolves running toward a field of flowers. At the very bottom was a perfect rendition of an open lunar flower, immaculately carved. Fae stared gaping. There was…_something_ about the stone that called to her. A something that eased down her ruffled nerves and left her staring in a daze.

"Hey Fae, where'd you go-" Toboe came around the corner and stopped as he saw the stone picture too. "…wow…"

The other boys came around also, all stopping to stare at the story portrayed on this long buried treasure.

"Damn…that's kind of creepy…" muttered Hige.

Tsume looked at it for a while before turned decisively away from it. "Leave it to a bunch of humans to come up with that…" he growled.

Kiba continued to stare at it, transfixed. Fae glanced at him before continuing to stare herself. None of them heard the sound of a car engine coming toward them until it was nearly upon them.

Tsume heard it first and bared his teeth. "Crap." He growled.

Hige and Toboe heard it too and panicked. "Come on! Get in one of these houses!" Hige called. He motioned to the closest building. Toboe hurried after him and Tsume followed sedately. Fae went to follow them too, and then turned to see Kiba still staring at the statue. She looked behind her to see the car in the distance.

She growled and grabbed hold of Kiba's arm, shaking hard. He blinked and then looked at her dazedly. She rolled her eyes and dragged him over to the building the others had taken cover in. It wasn't long before the car pulled up right outside their hiding place.

"Hot damn! I didn't think we'd ever find this thing!" a male voice shouted.

"Yeah, we've been looking for months! This is the first sandstorm to uncover it. Shit, we're lucky!" said another voice.

"Heh, yeah. And now that all those dumb ass villagers are gone, we can bag it right now." A third voice said smugly.

"Those bastards gave us a hell of a time a few months back, remember?" the second voice said.

"Nothing a little _persuasion _couldn't handle." Said the first voice. Laughter.

"Come on. I'm sick of this desert. Let's bag this thing quick and get it back to Lord what's-his-face and get our reward. It's a damn long time comin'." Said the third voice.

Fae glanced out to see the men walking around to the back of the truck where they pulled out shovels, picks, and a rope. The men started digging at the base of the stone statue, not being as careful as they should have about chipping the base. They had guns slung over their backs. A fourth human who hadn't spoken sat on the hood of the truck with his gun cocked and loaded in his lap, surveying the job. He must be the boss.

"That's not right…" Fae growled.

The calm the stone had brought to her vanished and she felt on edge and tense again. She felt she had to do something. Anything to stop what these humans were doing.

But before she could even think about doing anything, Kiba was rushing by her as a white flash. With a snarl, he leapt onto the closest man and bit down on the back of his neck, blood spurting up to stain him, the sand, and the stone. The other humans stared in shock for a second before pulling out their guns.

"What the hell Kiba!?" Hige shouted in shock.

"That dumb ass is gonna get us all killed." Tsume growled.

"Well don't just stand there, help him!" Fae snarled, racing out of the house.

With a growl, she leapt onto the human sitting on the jeep. His gun went off and Fae felt the bullet barely graze her side before it embedded itself in the sand. Her teeth met his shoulder and she sunk her fangs in. whipping her head to the side and shoving the man from his perch to fall onto the sand below with a thud.

Tsume had joined the fray and was attacking one of the humans who was trying to defend himself with a shovel. His defense failed. Hige and Toboe were both worrying another human, ducking out of the way of his wildly swinging pick ax. He over swung and Hige went for his throat. The only human left alive was the one laying in the sand beneath Fae, reaching for the revolver at his hip.

Fae snarled and leapt onto him, landing on his chest. The man wheezed and spluttered before she crushed his throat. Fae stood and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, spitting out the human's blood.

"Mind explaining what that was about?" Tsume asked Kiba with a vicious glare.

"Don't act like you didn't feel it too. This stone wasn't meant to be found by people like that." Kiba said coldly.

Tsume glared at him before looking back at the stone with a scowl. Yes, he had felt it. So had the others. They just hadn't immediately acted upon like Kiba had. Something cried out in them to protect this object. No one else questioned what had happened.

"Come on. We need to keep moving." Kiba said.

And with that, their journey continued. Behind them a wind stirred, calling the sand back to the stone, to hide it away from the Earth once more.


	6. We All Fall Down

**Hey ya'll. Those who read The Broken Road will definitely recognize some of this chapter. I recycle! Anyway, I was upset at how one sided and dead pan Fae has been coming off in the past chapters. It was a lot easier in The Broken Road to portray her because I had a more solid back story for her and some of it had already come out, whereas here you have no idea what her malfunction is, haha. But I want to change that. I'm going to be pouring as much of her essence into this chapter as possible. So enjoy!**

** This must be a sign of the apocalypse. THREE updates in one week? Ya'll are spoiled. **

** Wolf's Rain © BONES**

** Fae and all other OCs © Redmoonfae**

* * *

The desert sands gave way to hard packed Earth. The air was colder again and there was a constant breeze tickling their faces and bringing an odd scent. It had been four days since they left the Stone in the desert and six days since they had eaten the canned vegetables. They all jumped when the lethargic Hige suddenly took off past them. They followed him, trying to keep up.

When they caught up with him they saw what his excitement was over. A dead deer lay in their path, body emaciated, eyes stained red and staring up at them accusingly. It had only been dead a day or so, still reasonably fresh for five ravenous wolves.

"Ah man, we are so lucky! I thought we were going to die!" Hige moaned, dropping to his knees to devour the animal.

Kiba and Toboe fell upon the carcass quickly. Tsume crinkled his nose in distaste but his stomach made a loud protest and he reluctantly grabbed a slab of flank meat and chewed on it slowly.

Fae didn't go near it. She took a step back from the body with a look of utter distrust. Toboe looked up, his mouth full, and gave her a questioning look. He swallowed his mouthful with a satisfied sigh and said, "Hey Fae, why aren't you eating? It's almost like hamburger, just a little bit tougher…" he said thoughtfully.

"No thanks. I don't just eat convenient animals lying in the middle of nowhere." Fae replied scathingly.

Kai's tail flicked harshly from side to side. He leapt down from her shoulder after a moment of deliberation and trotted over to the carcass. Sniffing it thoroughly, he dipped his head down and bit off a small piece. He chewed it slowly and swallowed, then waited. He turned to Fae and said, _"Come eat." _

Fae didn't move from her spot. "No thanks, I'll be just fine."

Hige gave her a serious look. "Hey, beggars can't be choosers out here, ya know. This is no time to be stiffy about your food." He said with a nod, and then continued eating.

Still Fae made no advance to the meat. Tsume snorted and rolled his eyes. "Let her be stuck up if she wants. We just won't wait for her when she collapses." He said before turning back to the deer.

"Fae, why won't you eat? It'll make you stronger." Toboe said pleadingly.

"I don't have to give any reasons. I'm not eating that." She snapped back with finality.

"Did something happen to your pack before you came to the city?"

The question caught them all off guard, but especially Fae. Kiba hadn't spoken for what seemed like days. And for this to be the first thing he said? _God he can be so damn creepy!_ Fae thought madly. Her nostrils flared with her anger.

"Who the hell do you think you are to talk about someone else's past like it was your business?" she snarled, growing tense.

The fact was, he was eerily correct to the reason why she refused to eat. She could feel her breathing become more erratic and shallow. She pushed back the wave of memories that threatened to overwhelm her.

Hige looked at her with wide eyes. "Whoa, hey, Fae, calm down. No need to bite his head off, ya know?" he laughed awkwardly in an attempt to break the rising tension.

She whirled on him. "Shut the hell up and mind your own damned business. Fuck!" without another word, she was stalking off and away from them at a quick clip.

"Ah! Fae, wait! Please don't go!" Toboe called after her.

"Geeze Toboe, your girlfriend sure has one hell of a temper." Hige remarked, rubbing the back of his neck with a smirk.

"Gah! She is not my girlfriend!" Toboe spluttered, cheeks going bright red. "I'm going after her." He said quickly, turning away from them.

He took off after her, calling her name. She went faster until she was running from them. Toboe groaned and ran too.

The three others stared after their diminishing forms. Tsume shook his head and rolled his eyes. He looked down to see Kai still eating. "Hey, aren't you gonna run after her too?" he drawled, annoyed.

"_No. I'm hungry." _

* * *

She may not have the strongest teeth or claws, nor the best nose or howl, but she was damned if she wasn't the fastest. A fact that seemed to have Toboe loping after her with breathing issues.

"_Fae!! Please stop!" _he gasped from far behind her.

Fae sighed and shook her head. She slowed to an easy lope before stopping and turning back to see Toboe still racing toward her. Seeing her stop seemed to renew his spirits and he sped up with a small yip. But he misjudged the distance between them. As he came closer and tried to stop he found out that he couldn't. With a gulp he dug his claws into the icy ground. Fae had been looking in the opposite direction. When she turned back to look at him it was too late. He rammed into her, knocking the breath out of them both.

They tumbled across the ground with many 'oofs' and 'gahs.' Finally they slowed and came to a stop. Toboe moaned and went to push himself up on both hands. He blinked when he only felt the cold ground with one hand and warm flesh with the other. He looked down to see Fae glaring up at him with a flushing face.

"Having _fun?_" she said lowly.

Looking toward his hand he saw that it was resting on her exposed hip. With a cry he launched himself backwards and off of her, bottom skidding on the ground before landing on his back with a groan. He covered his face with his hands, his cheeks burning.

Fae stood up slowly; wincing at the bruises she knew would be showing up soon. She stalked over to where Toboe lay and attempted to burn a hole through his forehead. "So, other than groping me, why are you here?" she spit scathingly.

Toboe parted his fingers to look up at her frightfully. "I'msosorryIdidn'tmeanto. Pleasedon'tkillme." He pleaded quickly, slurring his words together.

Fae continued to glare at him for, to what Toboe, felt like hours. Then she rolled her eyes and offered him a hand up. "I'm joking." She said with an exasperated half smile.

Toboe grinned goofily, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Aehehe…yeah…hehe…" he gulped.

After a moment of silence he broached the subject to the reason he was there. "Why did you leave Fae?" he asked softly.

Fae looked away and sighed. "I'm sorry. I just don't think I'm cut out for this road trip. I'll just stay in the next town we come across." She said quietly.

Toboe's eyes widened and he whimpered. "Oh no, you can't! You said you'd come with us to Paradise!"

Fae whipped around to fix him with a cold stare. "I never said anything! There was nothing else I could do at the time with half the city shooting at my ass!" she snapped.

Toboe flinched and she immediately felt bad. Shaking her head she said, "I'm sorry. But I don't think I can go with you guys."

Toboe pouted at her, and then brightened marginally. "Well, you don't have to make up your mind now! Stay with us till we get to the town, and then you can decide if you want to stay there or come with us! I'm sure you'll change your mind." He said with a decisive nod.

Fae was about to contradict him when she saw how much happier he was and the big grin on his face. With a sigh she looked back where they had come from. After deliberating she nodded slowly. "Alright…just till the next town. I'll hold my decision until then." She said with a stern look.

Toboe nodded eagerly, not doubting at all that she would change her mind and come with them. "Alright! Let's get back to the others, they're probably worried."

"Hmph. Yeah." Fae said with a sniff.

They started their long walk back. They were both quiet, making Toboe fidget. "So…why did you run off anyway? Was it…what Kiba said?" he asked quietly.

She clenched her fists and looked down. "Yeah…something like that." She mumbled. She could sense his desire to question more, but knew he wouldn't pry. "A bad thing happened to my pack a long time ago…I don't like talking about it." _There. Threw him a bone._

Toboe nodded. Cheeks flushing again, he glanced at Fae and then at her hand. Taking a breath, he reached down and took her hand in his. Fae's neck snapped up when she felt his hand in hers. She looked at him, puzzled, and he smiled warmly at her. Fae smiled back slowly and gave his hand a squeeze before releasing it.

It didn't take as long as she thought it would to make it back to where the others sat around resting. Kiba sat up from his laying position as they came closer, glad they had both returned. Tsume watched them draw closer, his face betraying no expression. Hige lay on his side, snoring huffily. He woke up when Tsume through a deer bone at him.

He awoke with a start and sat up quickly, looking around with bleary eyes. "What the hell was that for!?" he yelled, focusing on Tsume.

"Sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, porky." He said with a smirking sneer.

Hige looked away grumbling and finally noticed Toboe and Fae walking back. He smirked broadly. "Sure did take you two a while to get back. Hehe, Toboe, I didn't know you had it in you." He laughed at his own insinuations while Toboe practically glowed with embarrassment.

"Wha!? We, no! What!? Ahhh!" he spluttered and writhed uncomfortably, desperate to deny Hige accusations.

Tsume groaned low in his throat and Kiba shook his head with an exasperated look. Leave it to Hige to open his big mouth and make things awkward unnecessarily. They both watched Fae uncertainly, wondering if she was going to explode again.

To the surprise of all she smiled sweetly and bat her eye lashes. She sauntered over to Hige, who backed up with a look of fear in his eyes. "Oh Hige, you're so funny!" she twittered, looking at him kindly. Moving closer, she gripped his overly large collar and pulled him closer. Everyone stared gaping, most of all Hige. "Want me to give you…a demonstration?" she purred low in her throat.

Hige gulped, face growing redder and redder. "Wha? You mean…us? Here?" he asked, his voice growing higher and higher.

Fae's kind smile turned into a deadly smirk. With an exhale of effort, she pulled on his collar and ducked her body, throwing her arms behind her, bringing Hige for the ride. He rolled over her back and landed on the hard ground with an audible 'thud.' The wind was knocked from his lungs and he stared up with a dazed expression. Before he could stand, she placed a foot on his throat and used just a little pressure to make him cough. Leaning down low so their faces were close again, she said sweetly, "Want another demonstration?" Her eyes were anything buy kind.

"N-no thank you, miss." Hige managed to squeak out.

"Good." She said cheerily, straightening back up and removing her foot.

She sauntered past the other three who continued to stare gapingly. Kai snorted and flicked his tail in amusement, trotting after her before leaping onto her shoulder and wrapping himself around her neck. She turned back around and motioned for them to hurry up. "Come on boys. Daylights a' wasting!"

Toboe stared down at Hige with a stern look. "Served you right!" he said with a firm nod.

"Ha, better watch your mouth porky, or she might give you another demonstration." Tsume said with a broad smirk, the closest thing to a smile anyone thought he could get. Even Kiba had an amused expression.

With nods, they set off toward the scent of the water and salt.

Hige spluttered on the ground, tripping over himself in his haste to be up. "H-hey guys! Wait up!" he called hoarsely, rubbing his neck.

* * *

They had come across a rail road. They ran alongside it for miles and miles, following it to its destination. Toboe kept glancing back as the sound of the oncoming train grew louder and louder. When it drew abreadth with them, Fae thought he was going to run right into her for all the staring he was doing.

It wasn't much longer before the train was pulling away from them until it was little more than a fading trail of smoke. The even ground they had been running on became a steadily sloped incline. Tsume and Kiba continued up the hill as though it was nothing more than the flat ground. Hige began to fall behind, but not by too much. Fae thought it might have had something to do with the fact he was staying as far away from her as possible.

When she was more than half way up the hill she looked back to see that Toboe had fallen significantly behind. He really was slow.

She looked back up the hill to see the other three staring out at something. She looked over at Toboe who was now running to catch up. Fae started running up the hill as well. She stopped when she made it to the top, standing next to Hige and Kiba. Her eyes widened when she saw what they were looking at.

"Wait! What is it?" Toboe called out. He finally made it to the top and skidded. "Whoa..."

"The ocean." Kiba replied.

Fae continued staring out at the wide expanse. Out in the water was an island, the train tracks made a bridge leading straight to it. Without another word all five wolves started trudging down towards the city. The wind beat at them relentlessly, buffeting them after and before every step. Kiba stopped for a moment, the wind ripped his tousled hair back and forth.

"The scents really faint...but it's definitely lunar flowers." he said softly.

Fae glanced over at him then lifted her head a little, scenting the air. He was right. It was faint, like a house smelt after being cooked in and the windows were open. She took a few unconscious steps towards the smell, nostrils flaring slightly.

Toboe gasped in surprise. "This is it." he said softly. "Paradise is right up ahead, I know it!" without another word he dashed off down the tracks.

The smell of the faint flowers pulling her forward, Fae rushed after Toboe, shortly followed by the others.

They ran until they could see the island better. Fae came to a screeching halt when she saw it was nothing more than a rundown city. Her lip curled in a silent snarl. They all stood for a moment before Kiba led the way to the city once more. They all followed, now more weary then before. When they got to the walls, Kiba leapt over with ease. Tsume and Hige followed him.

Fae readied herself to jump when she looked back to see Toboe staring up at the wall dubiously. She rolled her eyes and said, "It's not high. C'mon, are you a wolf or not?" Her muscles bunched and then she was leaping over the wall, doing a quick somersault, and landing on her feet evenly.

Hige pouted, looking in the other direction. "Show off…" he muttered.

Toboe came over the wall the next second, landing on his feet evenly before slipping and falling on his behind with an 'oomf.' Tsume rolled his eyes and Fae shook her head.

Hige scented the air and put on a disappointed face.

"You smelt flowers but all I can smell is some rancid oil..." he muttered.

"Man what a crappy city..." Tsume remarked.

And he was right. The walls of the broken down buildings were covered in mildew and other less pleasant things. The streets were littered with debris, rats scurrying around and grabbing any semi edible tid-bit they could. It all smelled rotten. Fae had a hard time picking up any other scent besides the mold.

Not a single soul besides the five wolves walked down the streets.

"Do you think they're all afraid of us?" Toboe asked sadly.

"Not used to visitors, that's for sure..." Hige replied, glancing

around the buildings.

"Hard to see how anyone can live here..." Fae remarked, kicking some indescribable garbage on the ground. She grimaced and kept walking.

"What the hell are we supposed to find here anyway?" Tsume grumbled. It wasn't clear if he was talking to himself or them. "This is some Paradise..."

Kiba made no remark. His expression was steely.

They walked wearily down the street through the city. None of them had a clue where they were going, but that didn't seem to matter. All of them were silent for their own reasons; frustration, weariness, agitation, disappointment. The silence bonded them together. Kai growled deep in his throat, small blue eyes darting around at the buildings. Fae could feel how tense he was. She noticed a woman hastily closing her shutters as they walked past. She couldn't help but stick her tongue out childishly.

She didn't know they had stopped until she walked right into Kiba. He glanced back at her before fixing his eyes back on the reason they had stopped. Fae backed up hurriedly, face flushing. She was still embarrassed at her earlier outcry.

Fae looked over at the wolves she had smelled only a few paces before they saw them. A pack of seeming humans sat around a metal barrel where a fire flickered dimly. They all wore grungy clothes and smelled unwashed. Fae was surprised to see a female among them; the first female wolf she had seen since her mother.

Toboe reacted the slowest and had almost walked past the others. He looked over at the other wolves finally and took an involuntary step back. Hige only had eyes for the female.

"It's a woman…" he muttered.

Fae ignored the comment.

"Where are you from?" a deep, gravelly voice asked. Fae turned her attention back to the group. A 'man' with a deep scar on his cheek had stood and was addressing them. It was Kiba who answered.

"A city to the North."

"Why are you here?"

"Just passin' through." Fae said shortly. She never did like the game of ask and respond.

"You don't expect us to business do you? In a dump like this..." Tsume cut in, glaring over at the group.

The man with the scar's expression stayed even, not letting any emotions show. "Well then, where are you going?" he asked.

"Heh...where are we going?" Hige asked.

"To Paradise!" Toboe snapped, putting his hands on his hips. Hige groaned and slapped his palm to his face. Fae rolled her eyes and mentally glared over at Toboe, cursing his tongue.

The scarred one's eyes widened in shock. All the other wolves' jaws had become slack, staring at the five young wolves disbelievingly. They all abruptly broke into raucous laughter. Fae snarled angrily. She took a step forward only to be stopped by a hand on her arm. She whipped around to see Hige grabbing his arm away and putting his hands up, gulping. Fae glared at him before turning and looking at the still laughing hyenas.

"Kiba why are they laughing?" Toboe asked innocently.

Kiba didn't take his eyes off the group as he answered. "Because they obviously know nothing of Paradise." His voice was cold.

The leader of the pack stopped laughing and the others followed quickly. He looked over at the small group and gave something of a scowl. "We know all about it."

Toboe and Hige both gasped noticeably. Fae's eyes widened a little but otherwise she didn't react. Kiba's glare redoubled.

"It's nothing but a stupid legend." one of the wolves said. As a human, he wore an orange had and had a square jaw.

"Legend...?" Toboe was confused. He looked from Kiba to the wolves and back again.

"That's right kid there's no such thing as Paradise." the same wolf replied.

Fae looked down and away. She didn't know if she agreed with him or not.

"What makes you say that?" Kiba asked carefully.

"Maybe because we've been there. We've all seen it." he said with a broad smirk.

Hige and Toboe gasped again. Even Kiba looked startled now. Fae's head snapped up and glared at him when he said this.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You just decided to drop by Paradise and decide it wasn't good enough for you?" she snapped viciously.

"Hah, that's exactly what I'm saying, girlie. And believe me it wasn't Paradise. That place was more like hell." he finished with a 'heh.'

Fae continued to glare but now kept her mouth shut.

"Huh...well that's no surprise..." Tsume said with a sarcastic smirk.

Now the leader with the scar decided to speak up again.

"You'll all see soon enough. You'll find that Paradise isn't worth looking for. Now why don't you all get lost? You all do have somewhere you belong, don't you?"

Tsume started walking forward once more. Fae growled at the wolf. If she didn't think it would get everyone else hurt, she would have charged at the sneering bastards then and there. Hige gulped and followed after Tsume. Toboe looked up at Kiba then at where his other two companions were. His face was downcast as he walked away. Fae was taking a step forward when once again a hand stopped her. She looked at the hand on her shoulder then up at Kiba, glaring at him.

"Let's go." he said, not looking at her, but glaring at the wolves. He turned away finally and headed after the others, Fae at his side. The wolves' laughing as they retreated ripped at her back and her pride.

* * *

They had continued their winding trip through the dank city. Tired from their journey they had stopped for a quick break to regain their bearings. Now they stood in the middle of a seemingly abandoned street, though it was hard to tell the difference between inhabited buildings and empty ones.

"What a damn joke...some out and down losers just gave me the brush off..." Tsume scowled and muttered. Fae silently nodded her agreement.

"Yeah right you're not exactly one to talk you know..." Hige stated.

"What'd you say?" Tsume growled, turning on him.

"Ehhehe...it's just...in a couple of years we could be just like those guys..." Hige said nervously.

"This city is scary...doesn't feel right...There may be a lot of wolves that live around here but this place is really cold..." Toboe said softly looking down.

Tsume shrugged. "Well maybe they're right. The sooner we get out of here the better off we'll be."

"And where do you think we should go exactly?" Kiba asked coldly. Fae startled at the sound of his voice so near her. She sidled away from him, about to lean on a wall when she remembered what could be living on it. _I might have to go to Paradise just to avoid some fatal disease from this place…_

Kiba was continuing. "There has to be something here. Look at how many wolves are in this city. I think we should stay and find out."

Fae admitted that he did have a point. But that didn't make the aspect of staying in this disgusting city any better. Tsume looked over his shoulder before he turned back around and kept walking. Everyone fell into step again. Fae quickened her pace so that she would be closer to Toboe than Kiba. This didn't go completely unnoticed by the latter.

* * *

They had come to the edge of the town. The moon was rising higher into the sky, just a sliver tonight. Hige, Tsume and Toboe had wandered over to the ledge and sat with their feet dangling. Kai was lounging in Toboe's lap, tail waving lazily. Fae watched them then turned and headed in another direction. She stopped when she got over to the ledge as well, adjacent to the others. She stood and looked up at the moon and smiled. It always made her feel better, basking in the moonlight. She was startled when she found she was not alone. She took a step back when she saw Kiba standing not too far to her right.

She hadn't known him for long but she knew him enough to know that he wouldn't come over here unless he had something to say. She stared at him and waited, growing impatient and a little awkward. "Well?" she said finally.

Kiba looked over at her with a serious expression. "You've been avoiding me since you ran off this morning." he stated.

Fae blinked and then looked down and away, embarrassed and self conscious. She had after all screamed and cursed at him. And for what? Asking a simple question. She fidgeted from foot to foot, glancing up from her lashes at him when he made no move to continue his half of the conversation. It didn't help that he had noticed her avoidance towards him. She had been in the 'pack' for a short time but came to see Kiba as the alpha almost. He just gave off that kind of vibe.

_Great...so _now_ I realize I probably offended the 'alpha.' _She thought angrily.

She looked over at him and sighed, stopping her nervous foot dance. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you." she said quickly and quietly, more grumbling to herself. But she knew he could hear her. He was, after all, a wolf a like herself.

Kiba smiled very softly. If she hadn't been looking at his face she wouldn't see it at all. "You didn't offend me. I know I said something that hit a sore spot. I shouldn't have." he said calmly.

Fae looked up at him in surprise. "Gaah...whatever. I over reacted. I always do. All you did was ask a question and I freaked…sorry." She flushed and looked away from him. She hated apologizing. She hated having something to apologize for.

Kiba smiled a little more. He thought of something then. "And I am sorry for leading those soldiers right to you. It forced you to make a quick decision-"

"Quit apologizing already!" she nearly shouted at him. She was shifting nervously again. "It was time for me to leave that place anyway…all it was was a crumbling city filled with crappy people. I'm kind of glad I was 'forced to make a quick decision' as you call it." She said with a flutter of her hands. Smirking gently, she punched him on the arm in a friendly gesture. "Just don't ever do it again."

Kiba blinked at her odd gesture and wasn't fully sure what to make of it.

She looked out over the ledge again. "But...I'm still not sure if I believe in Paradise. Or if I'll continue following you. I never thought it was possible to get to...so many failed..." she trailed off, shaking her head. "Who knows? Maybe you can make a believer outta me..." she laughed shortly. "Look, I'm babbling. Feel free to stop me at any time." she said with a sarcastic smile.

He didn't reply and was looking at her weird. She grew self conscious again. She let out an exasperated sigh and stalked off to the other guys, taking a seat next to Toboe who smiled goofily at her and struck up a random conversation.

Kiba watched her go and absently rubbed his arm where she had 'lightly' punched him. He smiled a little and looked up at the moon for a moment before also going back to the others, sitting next to Tsume, thinking Fae had had enough of him for now.

* * *

GRRRRrrrrrrr...

"...who was that?"

Everyone turned to stare at Hige.

"Oh hehe...it was me..."

GRRRRRrrrr...

"But it was Tsume that time." Hige said with a nervous laugh. Tsume scowled and glared out at the water.

"Man...how do those wolves live here? Standing around a bunch of garbage all day with nothing to eat...doin' nothin..." Hige thought aloud.

"I can't walk another step..." Toboe whined.

"Whimp-ow!" Hige rubbed his arm where Fae had punched him. He looked over to see her glaring dangerously at him. He gulped and looked away.

Tsume scowled. "Even if there was food here, we'd probably need some money to pay for it anyway."

Fae brightened. "Money? Is that all? Ha. If there's any money to be had here, I'll get it. Come on Toboe." Fae hopped up and walked determinedly back into the city. Toboe hurried to get up and follow her.

Tsume pushed up as well. "Someone needs to babysit the pups. You two find some shelter while we're gone." He said, stalking after Fae and Toboe.

Fae glanced behind her. "We don't need a babysitter. And I am not a pup."

Toboe looked at her poutely.

"Yeah right. You stick your nose in anything it doesn't belong. One day you're gonna get bit." Tsume said rolling his eyes and shaking his head.

Fae ignored him and continued her meandering path through the city. She stopped as she heard some humans heading their way. She turned to the boys. "Ok, you two get out of sight and watch the master at work."

Tsume snorted but Toboe nodded eagerly, hurrying to hide away in an alley. Tsume followed.

Fae nodded and Kai jumped off her shoulder to hide behind some barrels leaning by a wall opposite her. Fae sat on the ground and positioned herself accordingly; sitting down and holding onto one of her ankles tightly. It was only another few seconds before the people came around the corner.

It was a woman and a young boy. They dressed in warm, if not new looking, clothes. They only saw Fae a moment before they were upon her. After hesitating, the woman cautiously walked over. "Hey…are you alright, miss?" she asked wearily.

Fae sniffled again. "I don't know…my ankle hurts real bad and I don't know where I am…" she sobbed quietly. In order to hear her better, the woman knelt down. The young boy stood further back, kicking around some trash and paying no attention to his mother. Which was good, because Kai was slinking over slowly.

"Oh well…I'm very sorry, miss. Look, this isn't a very good part of town…I could point you in the direction of a small clinic we have…" she said, becoming less nervous. She set her purse on the ground. "Here…let me take a look at it."

Kai darted over to the purse stuck his whole head in it. A moment later he reappeared, crinkled bills held in his small jaws. With a flick of his tail, he was gone and behind the barrels again.

"Kitty…" the little boy said, tottering over to the barrels.

"Uh…thanks for all your help. If you could just point me in the right direction I'll head over to the clinic." Fae said in a rush, standing up shakily.

"Oh, alright. It's right down this street and to the left." She said, gesturing.

"Thanks so much." Fae replied with a warm smile.

"It was no problem. Come on Matt." She woman said, taking her son's hand in hers. They hurried back along the road and away.

Fae brushed off her bottom with a smug look. Toboe and Tsume came out from the alley.

"Wow Fae! That woman had no clue what was happening!" Toboe gushed.

Tsume was less impressed. "A nice little trick to play on a human woman."

Fae shrugged. "We haven't eaten real food in over a week. She won't miss a couple of dollars." And, just because she knew it ruffled him, "It also worked on your 'gang members' very well. Clearly, no one can resist me." She said airily, flicking her hair back.

Tsume's scowl deepened.

Kai trotted out from behind the barrels and up onto her shoulder, depositing the bills in her waiting hand. "Well, it's not much. But we should be able to buy some food if there's any to get…" Fae said after thumbing through the money.

Just then Tsume whirled around with a dangerous look. Four wolves had turned the corner and were stalking toward them, hands in their grimy pockets. Fae immediately went on the defensive, a weary Toboe standing beside her.

A big man with a square jaw and orange hat led the group. "We don't appreciate brats like you nicking our money." He growled out slowly, addressing Fae. He swung the woman's purse around one meaty finger. "So why don't you just come with us and we can talk about it, huh?" he said with a nasty smirk.

"Oh, as nice as that sounds, I'll take a rain check." Fae dead panned. Kai hissed from around her shoulder.

"We wasn't askin'." Another wolf said, this one tall and lanky, wearing a green hat. The group moved closer.

Tsume took a step forward, placing himself between the gang and Fae and Toboe. "And we don't really care. Move aside." He growled dangerously, drawing a knife out of nowhere.

The leader with the orange hat eyed Tsume wearily. Facing down as wolves, Tsume was an intimidating figure to say the least. A large grey wolf with a huge scar; Fae couldn't blame the gang for hesitating.

"Tch. We don't gotta deal with you." He said finally, rolling his shoulders. The gang advanced toward them, but simply kept walking by.

The tall wolf turned as they passed and sneered, "Better watch your backs tonight."

"That a threat?" demanded Fae, but they ignored her and were soon turning a corner and out of sight.

Toboe let out a sigh of relief. "Boy, that was close…" he muttered, relieved.

Tsume snorted. "Please. They were practically pissin' their pants." He sheathed the knife and stuck his hands in his pockets.

"Ah, my hero!" Fae gushed in a falsetto voice, clasping her hands together and batting her lashes up at Tsume.

He regarded her as though she were some very odd and grotesque bug. "I think it's time we all got back and had some rest. Clearly some of us are suffering brain damage." With a shake of the head, he turned and headed back the way they came.

Fae pocketed the money and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Come on Toboe, its past grumpy's bed time." Fae sighed, trudging after Tsume. Toboe laughed and Tsume growled.

They found Kiba and Hige where they had left them. The two, or Kiba really, had found a place to rest for the night. He led the way.

* * *

Fae looked around with a disapproving eye. "A graveyard? This is your idea of a great place to catch some shut eye?" she said dryly, continuing her appraisal of the dump. Nearly all the headstones were broken or tipped over. Moss, weeds, mildew, you name it, grew over every available surface. The moon cast an eerie light over everything, making something too light and something else too dark. It was spooky to say the least.

"I don't see you coming up with anything better." Hige grumped. Fae ignored him and walked carefully through the maze of headstones. The boys followed suit.

"This place is giving me the willies..." Toboe said in a small voice. His eyes darted over everything, jumping at small noises. But there really was a noise now. "Hey guys...I keep hearing something weird..." he whined.

Tsume growled and looked back at him. "Would you stop being afraid of everything?" he snapped.

Fae turned back to give Tsume a piece of her mind when something burst out of the ground a few feet away from her. She yelped and fell back into something solid. Both Hige and Toboe had yelled and fallen over. Whatever Fae had fallen against, the quickened heartbeat said they had been startled as well. She looked up to see Tsume looking with wide eyes where the thing was. He relaxed and looked down only to see Fae against him and his hands gripping her arms.

"Gah! What the hell?" he snapped, pushing her off.

"I would have moved sooner if you hadn't grabbed me for dear life. God...I'll probably bruise..." she said, looking at her arms where his hands had been.

Tsume was about to say something more when he was interrupted by Hige.

"Hey gramps what are you doing? You scared the crap out of us."

Fae looked over to see what had popped up. It was a very old, very dirty wolf. And he was in...a hole?

"Oohhhh?" the now old man replied. "I was only digging a hole for myself." his voice was wavery and tired sounding, like an autumn breeze rustling the last dead leaves still clinging to the branches.

Fae blinked at him, confused. "You're digging...your grave?" she asked incredulously.

"When you get to be my age you begin to recognize when your time has come."

"You might want to dig a little faster then." Tsume remarked.

"Excuse me, but do you know of any lunar flowers in this city?" Kiba asked.

The old man looked blank. Then his whole face lit up. It made him look less old and frail. "Ooooohhhh! A flowerbed that went on forever!" he cried happily, motioning with his arms how big it was.

At the same time, Fae and Kiba's eyes widened in shock.

"Wh-what happened to them...?" Fae asked in a shaky voice.

Kiba glanced over at her at the sound of her voice. His attention was taken back by Gramps, who had gotten out of the hole and was walking up the hill. Fae was the first to follow, then Kiba, then the rest. Fae walked alongside Gramps, offering him her arm, which he took gratefully.

"They used to bloom all over this island. A sea of petals..." he started. His face grew sad now. "But one day they were all dug up...and now there isn't a single petal left..." he said quietly. Fae patted his hand gently, smiling at him warmly. He smiled back weakly.

"A long time ago, huh?" Hige muttered.

"Hey can you tell us what color they were?" Toboe asked meekly.

Gramps looked up at the sky while he thought. "What color...? Why...they were the color of the moon!" he said, looking at Toboe and pointing up. Fae looked where his finger was pointing and smiled a little. Yes. Yes they were the color of the moon. Every shade, every highlight, every shadow of the moon.

"And what about Paradise? Have you been there?" Tsume asked in a mocking tone. Fae growled at him.

"Ohh, every wolf goes in search of it one time in their life. And I myself tried to find it." Gramps replied, ignoring the insult in the comment Tsume had made.

"So what'd you do?" Toboe asked.

Gramps smiled and continued hobbling up the hill. Fae stayed at his side, helping him up the steep incline. The boys followed close behind.

Finally they stopped and Gramps pointed to something in the ground. "Look. That's the entrance over there." he said in a conspiratorially whisper.

Fae and the boys looked to where he was pointing. In the ground of a small mound of earth there was a grate that was moved aside a little. Weeds and other plants grew around and through it. It looked as though it hadn't been disturbed in a very long time. It wasn't too hard to see why. The smell of death radiated out of the place like a disease. Fae had to take a step back and scrunched up her nose.

"Ah geeze! This place smells like death warmed over!" Hige cried, disgusted. He covered his nose with the sleeve of his hoodie.

"I was kind hoping…it'd be a little nicer..." Toboe whined.

Kiba stared fixedly at the spot in the earth and began walking towards it as if in a trance. Fae stepped out of his way, curious to see what he would do.

Before he got too close gramps spoke up. "I wouldn't."

Kiba turned to look at him, the spell broken.

"There have been many young wolves that have set out through there. But sadly...not one of them ever reached...Paradise." he looked down, face shriveled back into sadness. Fae looked down at the old man sadly and squeezed his hand.

"Then what is left for the ones who return...is to eat out a living here...Just like the rest of us." he finished.

Kiba turned when he heard someone approaching. The pack leader with the scar on his face.

"Ok, that's enough stories old man. Its late and you have work to do tomorrow." he said.

Gramps sighed and nodded. "I see...well..." he patted Fae's hand kindly and gave her a smile. He began walking down the hill towards the pack leader. "...I suppose I've dug it deep enough."

Fae was sad to see him go. She felt a kindred spirit in him that she loathed to see walk away. And what did he mean 'it was deep enough?'Before she could say anything Kiba cut in.

"Wait. When you and your pack tried to get to Paradise, is this the path you took?" Kiba asked seriously.

"I thought I told you it doesn't exist." he said, annoyed.

Gramps looked up at him sadly. "Zali..."

Zali looked down at Gramps before continuing. His voice became rougher and sterner. "If you kids disrupt the peace of this pack in any way I'll show you no mercy. Now get out of town before dawn, you hear me?"

Fae growled and stepped forward. "Who the hell are you to go ordering another pack around?" she snapped. She couldn't help it. _All I want to do is punch someone and this guy is practically jumping up and down saying 'Me! Me! Me!'_

Zali turned back around and snarled at her. "What was that?"

Before Fae could answer, Kiba stepped in front of her, shielding her from Zali's view.

"Alright." he said, answering to Zali's previous question.

Zali snorted and turned back around, walking with Gramps. Fae growled and walked in front of Kiba, standing close and glaring up at him.

"What was that for? I could've taken him!" she said angrily.

Kiba looked down at her evenly. "We're on his pack grounds. He was not out of line telling us to leave. Choose the right fights." he replied evenly.

Fae opened her mouth to argue further but found she had nothing. She glared at him one more time before stalking off. _If I can hold my own against Tsume I know I could've taken on scar-boy. _Toboe watched as she stalked past him and jogged to keep up with her.

"Heh. That girl needs to learn how to watch her tongue." Tsume remarked. But he couldn't help feeling a small ounce of respect for her for sticking up to Zali, a pack leader.

They walked until they found the remains of an old stone house. It wasn't much, but better than nothing. Fae settled down in a corner, staring up at the sky. Kai had finally woken up and run off, going in search of anything edible. Toboe sat near Fae, Hige lay on the ground near the opposite wall, Kiba stood in the 'doorway' and Tsume sat against another wall.

"So...you still believe in it?" Tsume asked Kiba.

"Believe in what?"

"Paradise. There's no such place."

Kiba just stared at him over his shoulder.

"They said they'd been there. And apparently it was no Paradise." Tsume continued.

Kiba was quiet and turned back to face out the 'door.' "Well...maybe what they found wasn't the real Paradise."

"Heh. Where the hell does all that confidence come from...?"

Everyone listened to the conversation going on between Tsume and Kiba. Especially Fae. She too wanted to know why Kiba was so convinced there really was a Paradise. She wanted to believe as well.

But Kiba didn't reply and Tsume continued. "Any way you know it's hopeless. You know there's absolutely no guarantee we'll find it either. It'd be stupid to keep going."

"Don't say that. Besides, getting angry just makes you hungrier." Toboe whined, trying to placate Tsume.

Tsume reclined back on a stone. "Maybe we should hang here and just die in the gutter. Get to digging some holes of our own."

"It's not confidence." Kiba finally said.

Tsume looked over at him. Fae looked over as well. He had an odd look on his face. Calm and serene...but also sad and confused. He was looking down with an almost smile. "Heh. I don't even know what it is. But it's always there...screaming inside of me. I just have no know. I have to get there. That's why I've kept on running all this time. I can't imagine living without believing in it."

He finished speaking and everyone was silent. Fae couldn't understand what he meant. She had never felt so strongly in something. It was odd hearing him say these things. Her lip curled in a snarl and she got up. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm going to find some food." She said gruffly. She had to get away from them for a while. Away from this new 'Paradise' bound pack. Before she knew it she was running.

"Hey Fae!" Toboe shot up and went to follow her. He came back a moment later. "I don't know where she went...she's so fast..." he huffed and panted, putting his hand on his chest.

"Heh. Wimp. Just let her go. She needs to cool off her hot head or it'll explode." Hige smirked. Now that Fae was AWOL he could poke fun at Toboe as much as he wanted.

Toboe glared at him angrily. A second later, Hige was sitting up and a woman was there. Kiba left right after and Tsume headed in a different direction. Toboe moaned and ran after Tsume. Hige was too captivated by the woman and her food.

* * *

Fae wandered through the streets, kicking random bits of debris as she went. Without meaning to she ended up at the spot where they had first seen the wolves sitting around the barrel fire. The fire was out now and the wolves were gone. Curious, Fae walked over and looked around the area, flipping over the boxes and crates the wolves had been sitting on. With a sigh of defeat, she sat down on one of the crates, having not found a single scrap of anything.

She rubbed her arms against the cold and looked around. "Man this place sucks…" she muttered to herself. Everything was grey and colorless with permanent grime everywhere.

"_Someone is coming." _Kai said, ears perked and quivering.

Fae stood up, ready to get into the defensive. But a human just came around the corner. The young boy that had been with the woman Fae had collected charity from. He looked lost and scared. Hesitating, Fae walked over slowly. "Hey…you lost..?" she asked awkwardly. She may have hated humans, but she wasn't so heartless as to leave one of their pups wandering around alone.

The little boy didn't say anything, just rubbed his face with the back of his hand, face streaked with tears. Without another word, he took off running down the street.

Against her better judgment, Fae hurried after him. "Hey kid, wait!" she called. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to help!"

She followed the boy through the winding streets until she was thoroughly lost. So caught up in trying to follow the boy without overtaking him, she didn't realize her mistake until it was too late.

"_Trap!"_ Kai hissed in her ear a second before she realized what had happened.

The little boy had led her into a wide alley where he ran past the three wolves to his mother who grabbed him up in a fierce embrace. Crying herself, she hurried past the wolves and then past Fae, eyes frantic. Fae stood dumbstruck as she stared at the three wolves in front of her.

"Go." She hissed to Kai quietly. He dug his claws into her shoulder before leaping off and sprinting away.

Fae began backing up, only to collide with something. She whirled around to see the fourth wolf from the gang they had encountered earlier.

"Whas the matter sweetheart, not so brave without your guard dog?" the wolf with the orange hat said slowly with a broad smirk.

Fae turned herself so she could see them, but so that could also keep the other wolves in her view as well. "What? Braver now that it's just little ol' me?" she retorted, keeping the small bubbling panic out of her voice. "And if you're calling Tsume 'my guard dog' you should really know he's just a big cup cake on the inside." She babbled when she was freaked. It was word vomit. Unavoidable.

Sure she was tough, but this was a whole new game she was playing, and she didn't know the rules. The fight with Tsume on the rooftop had been her first and only fight with another wolf; and she couldn't help but suspect that he had been holding back, just marginally. Now she was against four full grown wolves that didn't seem to mind tormenting people. She hoped the mother and child would be ok.

_Ok. Plan. Keep them talking. Stall them._ She thought, backing herself against the wall. She mentally grimaced at the texture of the filth covered bricks. _Ewewew oh God GROSS. _

"I'd keep that tongue inside that pretty head of yours if I was you." The lanky wolf said. They were slowly converging on her. Slinking the way a predator did when it could take out its prey whenever it wanted. She didn't like being the prey.

"If you were me, I wouldn't have such a pretty head, now would I _mutt?"_ she sneered.

The next thing her brain registered was a furious stinging sensation. She slowly placed her hand on her quickly swelling cheek. Her lip was cracked again. She stared dazedly at the ground. _Fast…_

After the bewilderment had faded away, she was only aware of a bubbling, burning, moltenous fury rising in her chest. It swelled and gurgled, threatening to choke her. These mutts _dared_ slap _her?_

Oh no_._

Fae straightened calmly, fixing the orange hatted one who had hit her with a venomous glare. She purposely spit out the blood in her mouth at his feet.

"Now sweetie, this doesn't have to be so bad if you just keep that mouth of yours shut. Or not…" he said, causing the others to laugh lowly behind him.

"You know what?" Fae said calmly, wiping the back of her hand across her mouth.

"What's that, darlin'?"

"I know why you couldn't get into Paradise." She said matter of factly. "It's because you're all nothing but a pack of mangy, flea bitten dogs, unfit to lick the ground a real wolf walks on." She snarled, her teeth becoming very sharp.

The others all began snarling and growling furiously, stiffing up and puffing out indignantly.

"Wrong thing ta see, bitch…" orange hat growled lowly.

"Careful. All that scowling you're doing my wrinkle that pretty face of yours." Fae commented with a sickly sweet smile.

And then it began.

One lunged at her with a huge snarl, jaws opened wide. But she was ready for that. With a leap she was over and then behind them. The alley was very wide, making maneuvering easy, if not still constricted.

They all whirled on her, vicious growls resonating from their throats. A dark grey one lunged at her with bared fangs. Fae met him head on. They reared up and clawed at each other's sides. Fae bit at anything she could get a hold of, the male likewise. Fae was knocked aside by another wolf, this one tan. She rolled over on the ground as they chased after her, biting her sides.

She stood quickly; lunging at both wolves quickly before retreating again, hackles raised high. The other two wolves finally joined in and combined their efforts against her. The whole world titled as they all lunged at her at once, biting and ripping at whatever they could get. Fae flung and writhed around, trying to fight them all at once. The only thing she was aware of besides her slashing fangs were the sharp pains that sprung all over her body. The smell of blood was thick in the air; most it was hers.

They massed together to create a single writhing, wriggling mass of fur and fangs; Fae in the middle of it all.

And so the fight continued. The air was knocked out of her lungs and she collapsed onto the ground. She cried out as four sets of jaws ripped at her exposed stomach and legs. With a paw she pushed against ones chest, trying to hold him off. She squirmed on the ground, pawing at the air in a vain attempt to right herself. When one grabbed hold of her foreleg and whipped his head she couldn't help but let out a high pitched howl. Whipping around she grabbed hold of the tender area where his leg met his chest. The wolf snarled and released her leg.

Her strength was being sapped from her quickly. The long days of running without food and rest weighted heavily upon her limbs, making them heavy. Spots of black danced around her vision. With a snarl she stood, lunging after the closest form. But she was quickly knocked back down. One wolf, the biggest one, placed his front paws in her sides and stood atop her, making sure she didn't try getting up again.

Breathing heavy and body shaking, she didn't try. The four wolves stood over her triumphantly with raised tails.

"_Stupid bitch."_ One snarled, the one who wore an orange hat in his human form. _"This could've been a lot less painful."_

"_Bring it on, your cowardly bastards!"_ she snarled, her red stained fangs bared in defiance.

As a human, he cuffed her head hard. Her vision reeled. He boxed her ears a few more times, the others growling in pleasure.

"You gotta learn yer place; and we have all night." He said with a smirk.

She could feel the blood streaming down her body, through her fur, to puddle around her. She vaguely wondered how much blood could be lost before her heart stopped beating. Her ears were filled with a tremendous roaring. She whined where she lay, shutting her eyes tightly, the roaring in her ears echoing off the building walls and encasing her. Snarls, growls, yelps…_wait._

Fae opened her eyes slowly, working hard to focus on her surroundings. The roaring hadn't been in her ears. It had come from a large white form that had landed among them. The white form streaked and danced around the dull colors around them. One form lay on its side against the wall. Another was yelping and fighting away from those fearsome jaws. A dull tan form streaked away from the fray. The yelping wolf finally fought free and dashed away as well.

The white wolf stood with his back to her, snarling savagely. The last wolf growled back, but was reluctant to get any closer. Without a warning, the white wolf lunged at the other and slammed into him with a force that sent the other wolf to the ground. He whined, tail tucked firmly between his legs as the white wolf stood over him with raised tail. Tucking his head, the white wolf gave the other one last bite on the neck before he got away with a yelp. The two wolves that had been lying away from the fight leapt up and limped after their companions.

Kiba, for Fae finally remembered who he was, stared after them, ears and tail perked up, head held high. After making sure the wolves were completely gone, he turned and walked back to her. Fae unintentionally shied away from him, her lip curling in warning. Instinct told her she was weak and had to hold off anymore attacks, lest her body give up. Kiba stopped his advance on her, giving her a moment.

_God…I wish he'd stay still…does Kiba have a twin…? Guh…my head…_

Fae stopped growling when she realized the sound had been coming from her. She ducked her head back down and laid her ears flat. Kiba walked over and nosed at her side in inspection.

"Stop that…" Fae sighed weakly.

She lay on her stomach, her head resting on the ground. One arm was wrapped around her midsection, the other lay at her side. She curled into herself, clenching a fist. "Just go away…" she pleaded, her voice muffled. Her cheeks burned with humiliation.

"Can you walk?" he asked quietly, keeping his voice low as to not startle her.

Fae didn't answer. After a moment she uncurled herself and got onto her hands and knees, her head hanging between her arms. She took two deep breaths before pushing herself up with a grunt of effort. Kiba gripped her upper arms gently in an attempt to help her, but she shook him off. Finally standing, she leaned against one of the buildings, no longer caring how gross it was.

_Ow ow ow ow ow…._

She peeked down at herself and grimaced with a shiver. Her clothes were in tatters. Her body was cut, and ripped, and torn. Counting to three, she pushed herself off the wall and took two steps before her legs gave out. She braced herself for an impact that didn't happen. Instead, warm arms encircled her and got her back on her feet. When she tried to shake him off he ignored her. He pulled her left arm around his shoulders and gripped her waist with the other, holding her up.

"I'm bleeding everywhere…just let me go." She slurred, her head lolled to one side, her ears were pounding. Kiba didn't answer or let go. If anything, he held her closer. Resigned to her fate, she readied herself for the long walk back.

Slowly, she took a step and then another and another. It was slow going and it hurt…a lot. With every step her body screamed out in protest. Her head felt as though a bad player were drumming on her brain. With a moan of pain and frustration, she leaned herself against Kiba, her legs refusing to work, her chin resting on her chest. Wordlessly, he repositioned himself, put one arm around her back and the other behind her knees, and picked her up bridal style. Gripping the front of his jacket she buried her face in his chest and clenched her eyes shut, body wracked with withheld sobs.

* * *

**Oohh, I'm a bitch! This chapter was getting RIDICULOUSLY long. And so I'm splitting it into two. You'll get the next chapter when I'm done writing it. Muhahaha. **

**I really hope you all enjoyed this! Yes, I reused a lot of sections from The Broken Road, but they were necessary. And now I just have a few questions for you! PLEASE review! If you could, reply to these in your review.**

**How do you like the storyline so far? Too close to the anime? Just right?**

**Am I portraying everyone at least **_**sort of**_** well?**

**And just for kicks:**

**Who do you see Fae ending up with?(if anyone!)**

**Ok! This note is long enough! See you next time! **


	7. Rewind, Then Press Play

**Hey all! Well this took longer than I wanted it to. Oh well. Turns out I couldn't finish the whole chapter yet again. It was getting crazy long. So the conclusion of this part of the story will be **_**next**_** chapter, haha. Please enjoy the story!**

**Wolf's Rain © BONES**

**Fae and other OCs © Redmoonfae**

* * *

_Shit. _

Shit summed it all up. It was the first thing to pop into his head when Kai had raced up to him. In retrospect, it was amazing the small fox had even found him considering Kiba hadn't even had any idea where he was. But luckily the fox had found him and quickly explained what had happened, though he nearly mauled his face in the process.

No words of haste needed, Kiba had taken off after the fox as it launched itself off his shoulder. Hairpin turns and obstacles in the street tried to slip him up, but he was a wolf and more than a match for whatever the city could throw at him. He had pushed himself to go faster and faster, his worn out shoes making harsh slapping noises against the filthy pavement.

In a way, he had feared this would happen. In the back of his mind he wondered if maybe he should have kept the pack all together for the night. This city's pack obviously felt no kinship to them and his instincts told him many of them were corrupted and twisted. He hadn't worried about Tsume or Hige. Tsume could take care of himself and Hige wasn't one to go around picking fights. But Toboe was young and, admittedly, weaker than the others. But his nature was kind and shy and so Kiba knew he wouldn't cause any trouble. But Fae had been another story altogether. Head strong and prideful, he had wanted to get her away from the laughing dogs as soon as possible and keep them separated. She was strong, but she also lacked experience. For the fifth time in two minutes, Kiba had wished he had kept them all together.

And now he could hear the sounds of battle and the cries of pain. No longer ignorant of his direction, Kiba ran with a new purpose. The small fox disappeared again. The sounds grew louder and louder and now he could also smell blood. _Faster…faster…_

He was going at such a pace that he nearly skidded right by the entrance to the alley. He was in time to see a human formed wolf punch a fallen form in the head and could hear a low whine. A furious roar on his lips, his maw opened wide as he charged into the fray head long and bowled the bemused wolves aside. Placing himself between them and his companion he made sure all present had a good view of his fangs. The gang gawked before regaining their composure and lunging at him with assured triumph in their eyes.

But he was not an untrained pup fresh from the city. He had fought and killed and battled his way through life to stand before them and he would crash upon them and flatten them as an avalanche does to the mighty pines. And so it was. The taste of their blood on his fangs made him grimace and howl for more at the same time. They were weak and cowardly and he ripped away their pride and self assurance with systematic precision. The blood stopped flowing too soon in his opinion.

Kiba stared after the last dog as he fled from him, tail and head raised high. He made sure that none of them were returning, and then he faced the reason for his blood lust. Fae lay in a crumpled pile on the ground, covered in blood and trembling. The sight of her made him want to chase down the dogs and rip them apart. But he stopped himself for two reasons.

The first made him bitter and growl lowly. They were in another pack's territory. It would cause copious amounts of problems if he had killed four pack members. The second reason lay in front of him. When he advanced to check on her he was surprised to find she was conscious and growling at him.

_Why am I surprised? _

He waited for her to calm down before moving toward her again. Lowering his head he nosed her side gently, trying to sort out how much damage had been done. Something inside him boiled when he found it was more than he had dreaded.

"Stop that…"

She was human looking again and laying face down on the ground. His now human hands itched to lift her up and carry her back to where they had decided to rest for the night, but he kept them firmly at his side. He knew that even an injured wolf could still bite your head off. Even more so if that wolf was Fae.

Slowly she got onto her hands and knees and tried to raise herself. Kiba gently placed his hands on her upper arms and attempted to pull her up easily. His attempts were foiled when she brushed him off sloppily. Temper barely under control, he nearly shook with his frustration at her inability to accept help. He thought she would have laughed at his appearance if she had been in any condition to; he wished she was.

Now she was leaning against the wall and seemed to be preparing herself. Kiba took a step closer to her, ready to catch her if she fell. He stole a glance behind him, all senses alert for any wolves that may be wandering around. As it turned out, it was a good thing he had readied himself for her to fall; because a second later she did. He easily caught her, making sure to be gentle around her wounds. A low growl escaped his throat and he hoped she hadn't heard.

He steadied her up and pulled one of her arms around his neck and held onto her waist with the other. He could feel the warm, wetness of her blood seeping through his clothes to stain his own skin.

"I'm bleeding everywhere…just let me go…"

Kiba shook his head in exasperation at her stubbornness. She was too injured even to hold herself up; despite what she thought, he was in fact holding up all of her weight. Despite her pathetic squirming attempts, he kept a firm and gentle grip.

Slowly, she took the first step and then the next. Kiba helped pull her along and was patient. But before they had even made it five steps, she collapsed. Kiba didn't falter at all, but gently maneuvered them both so that he could pick her up. _So light…_ he thought, brows knitting together. Unconsciously, he held her closer to his own body. He was taken by surprise when he felt her take hold of his jacket and bury her face in his chest.

Blinking, he looked down at her and saw her curled against him. He could feel her body shaking and lurching in his grip and his shirt front grew damp. She made small, distressed noises which developed into hiccups. Without thinking, he bent his head down and placed his forehead on the top of her head and closed his eyes.

After a few minutes standing like that, Fae's body stopped lurching with sobs and her whines quieted, now only small hiccups making her body jump. Her body still shook, but not with as much force as before. Another moment later, Kiba straightened back up and began walking determinedly out of the alley.

He wasn't sure exactly where the grave yard was or even where exactly they were. His eyes stayed wide open, glaring at every shadow or sign of movement. It wasn't safe to be wandering around a foreign city, trailing blood, with hungry wolves lurking in the shadows. Fae seemed to have drifted off into unconsciousness, though she muttered incoherently, the sounds muffled by Kiba's own chest. He found it tickled.

Now he began searching for a safe place to hole up for the night-or at least some of it. Wolves healed fast thanks to moonlight and their natural metabolisms. But there was little moonlight in this rotting city and the extent of her wounds were severe. He had been forced to duck behind some boxes on the street once when a group of humans shuffled by and again when a lone wolf came sniffing around.

The wolf was relatively young and small with the same gruff exterior as all the other wolves in the city. As he drew closer to Kiba's chosen hiding spot, he decided to reveal himself before he was found. He gently placed Fae on the ground behind him, carefully untangling her fingers from his shirt. Turning, he walked out from behind the building, body tense. The young wolf stopped in his tracks and observed Kiba, nose lifting to scent the air.

"Smells like someone got into a bit of trouble." He sneered.

Kiba didn't answer. He knew he would easily be able to take the pup down if it was necessary, but he didn't have time to waste. Fae made a small noise from behind him. The other wolf craned his neck to see around Kiba. Kiba blocked his view, moving his body and growling low in his throat.

"Ya know, I would be happy to take her off yer hands for a while." The wolf said slowly, advancing on Kiba.

"I wouldn't suggest taking another step." Kiba said, dangerously calm.

The other wolf hesitated, eyeing Kiba from head to toe. To emphasize his point, Kiba took a step forward and snarled deep in his throat, baring his teeth. Without meaning to, the other wolf took a hurried step back. He jammed his hands into his pockets and looked away with a scowl on his face.

"Pfft. Whatever." He muttered turning and stalking off with hunched shoulders.

Kiba waited for him to disappear around a corner before he turned back to Fae to see her attempting to stand again. Kiba hurried forward as she slumped down once more. He adjusted their positions until he was carrying her again.

"I'm sorry…" he murmured softly.

Looking around carefully, he hurried down the streets, continuing his search for a suitable area to spend the night.

* * *

Which is how they ended up in a rather cramped alley way. He thought he had been heading the right direction to the graveyard but wasn't positive. Kiba wanted to get back there as soon as possible, but the sun had rapidly set and more of the city's wolves were out and about. It wasn't the best place to be staying, but it would do. It was long and narrow and would be easily defendable if needed, even if it wasn't very comfortable. Then again, Fae seemed to be unconscious and Kiba didn't think she really cared where they were.

He walked half way down the alley and knelt, placing Fae on the ground and propping her up against the wall. He sat next to her, closest to the alley's opening, and relaxed marginally. Looking up he could see a thin sliver of the sky. The moon would be up in a few hours time, and then he thought he would try to get them back to the graveyard.

_It can't be much farther…this city isn't very big…_ he thought absently.

Kiba looked down at Fae who was leaning heavily against him. Her breathing was shallow, but at least she was breathing. Beads of sweat lined her forehead, her jaw was clenched tightly, and her body still trembled. Her clothes were little more than shredded tatters thrown clumsily over her. There was a particularly large gash on her ribs and her left arm was caked with blood and bruising. Kiba could feel his anger boiling over again. _I should've killed them. _

"This really sucks…"

Kiba almost jumped at the sound of her voice. It was weak and tight with pain, but it was definitely her. Her eyes were just barely open and she was looking down.

"…yeah."

They were quiet again for a long while. Kiba made sure to listen to her breathing carefully. It was raspy and labored, but he wasn't overly worried. Wolves were tough and Fae was no exception. He turned his head to stare out of the alley, all of his senses alert for any sign of someone approaching. He was paying so much attention to the 'outside' world that it took him a second to realize he couldn't hear Fae breathing anymore. He turned back to her quickly and saw that she was only gathering the strength to speak.

"We…need to get back…" she whispered. She squirmed against him, trying to get her feet underneath her to stand.

"No, we'll rest for a while longer." Kiba said evenly, holding her down.

She made a few small noises of frustration before collapsing back against the wall. Her breathing was harsher now after her exertion and Kiba shook his head. His head whipped around when he heard something running toward their alley. Getting into a half crouch, he turned to face the on comer. A minute later Kai dashed into the alley, a white mass hanging from his jaws. Kiba relaxed and sat back down. The small fox crawled over him, depositing his burden on Kiba's lap before leaping off to Fae's side.

Kiba looked down to see the fox had dropped a roll of bandages in his lap. "How did you get these?" he asked, picking them up and examining them. They were of good quality and smelled mostly clean.

"_From a clinic a human pointed out earlier. One of the windows was open." _ The fox replied shortly, staring at Fae with wide eyes. She hadn't yet noticed he was there.

Now her eyes opened a crack. "Where did I get what…?" she murmured, thinking Kiba was speaking to her. Her eyes rested on Kai and small pinpricks of tears welled up in the corners of her eyes again. The small fox whined softly before rushing at her, placing his front paws on a small part of her uninjured chest and licking at her face. Her eyes closed again and her head lolled to the side.

Kiba watched the entrance of the alley again; making sure no one had followed the fox to their less than ideal hiding place. "…Kai, I have to ask you to do something." He said after a minute.

The fox looked up at him, his small face expressionless. "I need you to find one of the guys; they should still be in the graveyard. Bring them back here." Kiba said. Kai rubbed his face against Fae's hand before darting out of the alley without another word. Kiba watched him go and hoped he would be quick in bringing back one of the others, preferably Tsume. It was going to be very difficult getting back if some of the other wolves found them and Kiba had to defend Fae alone.

Kiba looked at the bandages in his hand before putting them back in his lap. They would have to do for now until they could find something to put on her wounds. Gently, he picked up her left arm that had been lying on the ground and brought it close to his face. It looked as though one of the mongrels had tried to break her leg but thankfully failed. Unfortunately her arm was still badly injured and still bleeding. He sniffed at the wound to see if any infection was starting to spread. Bringing her arm to his mouth he began to clean out the wound. Fae hissed in pain and weakly tried to pull her arm back. It was a testament to how injured she was that she gave up quickly.

When he was satisfied with her arm he picked up the bandages and ripped off a length with his teeth. He wrapped it around the wound tightly. The bandage became stained quickly, but not saturated.

Fae weakly pulled her arm back and cradled it against her chest, leaning away from him.

Kiba could feel his temper nipping at his heels. "Would you rather they get infected?" he said coldly. She didn't reply and didn't look at him. "Then stay still." He said, taking her silence as a negative.

He pushed her hair away from her neck and leaned over her, beginning to clean out the lacerations on her shoulder and neck. She cringed and squirmed but didn't bat at him.

"My pack used to do this…"

He was surprised to hear her speaking, but took her talking over her wriggling around.

"I was always getting hurt…I was so clumsy and…accident prone…" she whispered, a wheezy laugh escaping her lips. He could feel her shoulders slump under his hands. "But no matter how much we tried to help them…we couldn't save them…"

She was quiet for a long time and Kiba wondered it she had fallen asleep again. But then she began to speak again.

"It was the prey…they became so easy to catch…it was weird. They were slower and dumber…we thought we were so lucky." He could hear harsh bitterness in her voice. "Every hunt was successful. We were all well fed. I know I was tubby for a while...like Hige." Another wheezy laugh. "But…something was wrong…the plants in our forest smelt strange…they had this _dust_ all over them. It would fall from the sky sometimes. The deer…they were so slow and dumb and sick. If they could run they always started coughing and would just…_collapse."_ She was nearly choking on her words.

Kiba didn't interrupt her. He continued to clean out the wounds on her neck, lips curling at the taste of the mongrel's saliva on her. After cleaning as much as he could he ripped off more of the bandaging and wound it several times around her neck, securing it with a quick knot. She continued her tale.

"Some of the pack was getting sick too. It happened to our elders first. They started acting like the prey; slower, dumber, and sick. So sick…they started to die too…just collapse. The others…they started getting slow and stupid too. They didn't question it when they found our prey already dead…didn't think it odd that the dust covered them and was _inside_ them. I was scared…I wouldn't eat. They smelled _horrible._"

Her shoulders shook with repressed sobs. But she couldn't stop speaking. Once she had started her tale for the first time it was as though she had opened a floodgate. Word vomit. She was only dimly aware of Kiba cleaning her wounds and bandaging her. She didn't see the grime covered ground she stared at, just the ghosts of her past.

"My mother was the only other one to see what was happening. She had seen the dust falling from the sky too. She had even seen a human place a dead doe on the outskirts of our forest. She was scared too. That's when we left. She woke me up one night and we left. A few others came too…but my father stayed…so did most of the others. Their eyes were cloudy and their legs were weak…but my mother and I left with some others." She took a shaky breath to steady herself. "But they were sick too…"

Kiba eased her out of her over shirt to better see her wounds. She was limp and didn't fight against him. His eyes were intense and his ears were perked as he listened to her story attentively.

"A lot of them died within the week…a few more the next week. Soon it was just me and my mother. But her eyes were cloudy too and she growled to herself while we traveled. There wasn't any prey for us out in the wastes. Ha, I wasn't so tubby anymore…Then my mother collapsed one day and wouldn't get up. I remember…it was snowing so badly. I slept by her side and when I woke up I had to shake the snow off of me. I couldn't even see her anymore. But I knew I had to leave…I knew where my mother wanted me to go. That city…the city that smelled like flowers…" her voice grew softer and softer until it was hardly more than a sigh.

Kiba looked at Fae for a long time. It was hard to believe that their pasts were somewhat similar…only she had to see the poison sickness slowly destroy her pack one by one. He had been very young when the fire happened…

He could tell she was asleep now. Telling her story had taken a lot out of her and now her body was forcing itself to rest. With a sigh he continued to go over her body, pressing lightly with his finger tips around her ribs for any signs of broken bones. He cleaned and wrapped most of her wounds, having difficulty with the ones on her back; it was hard to prop her up, keep her shirt out of the way, and bandage at the same time. But he ran out of bandages before he could get to the ones on her chest and stomach.

Knowing he had done everything he could for now, he leaned back against the wall, Fae resting against his side with her head lolled onto his shoulder. He watched the entrance to the alley with sharp eyes and listened very carefully.

His efforts were rewarded when he heard the sound of pounding shoes on the pavement. He quickly, but gently, propped Fae up on her own on the wall, and then got into a defensive position. He relaxed a minute later when he heard an all too familiar voice.

"Jeeze, where the hell are you takin' me, rat?" Hige whined a moment before Kai ran into the alley. Hige ran behind him and skidded to a stop when he saw Kiba. "Hey, what're you doing here…" he started to ask before he noticed Fae behind Kiba. "Oh man…"

"C'mon, we need to get back to the graveyard. Where are Tsume and Toboe?" Kiba asked, turning around to carefully lift Fae back up. Luckily the alley was just wide enough for him to carry her out walking sideways. She stirred in her sleep but otherwise didn't pay attention to what was going on. She curled into herself, her head resting on Kiba's shoulder.

Hige stumbled back quickly to let Kiba by. "Oh man…what the hell happened?" Hige asked quietly, staring at Fae with wide eyes.

"I'll explain on the way, but we need to hurry. It's practically full dark now." Kiba said before setting off after Kai, who trotted a way ahead of them, keeping an eye out for anything in the night.

It was only a few minutes later that Hige was filled in to what had happened. He shook his head dumbly. "Man…I thought she was…you know…indestructible…" Hige muttered, glancing at her every few seconds.

"Heh, yeah…" Kiba muttered.

It was going smoothly until Kai suddenly puffed up ahead of them and hissed violently as five humans stepped out from an alley to their right. Kai dashed away, disappearing instantly. The humans advanced on the three wolves lazily. One, who seemed to be the leader, held a switch blade in his hand, flipping it open and shut annoyingly. Kiba and Hige stopped walking, eyeing the group of humans. Hige stuffed his hands into his pockets with a sigh and Kiba glared.

"Step aside." He said evenly as the group formed a semi circle in front of them.

"Heh, and who do ya think you are ta be givin' orders, huh?" he drawled, causing his goons to laugh lowly.

"Hey guys, c'mon. He's just givin' you fair warning." Hige said with a sigh.

"And we're just givin' _you_ a warnin.'" Said one of the cronies in the group.

"We're bein' awful generous to yas." Said another.

"What would be 'awful generous' of you would be to shower once in a while…" Hige said, nose wrinkling in disgust.

"Tch, big words for a kid." Said the leader of the group, continuing to flip his blade. "But I'm feelin' generous tonight. Leave your wallets and the girl and we'll let ya pass. Easy, right?" he said with a laugh. His followers laughed with him and stopped when he did.

Kiba was about to reply when he felt Fae stir against him. Looking down he saw her uncurl enough to look at the humans in front of them. Shakily, she extended her right arm, palm up, and flipped them off.

The humans 'oooed' and laughed dumbly among themselves. "C'mon man, just leave her here. We'll take good care a' her." The leader said again.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Kiba said coldly.

Without another word, both Kiba and Hige blurred toward the humans. Their weak eyes couldn't see the speed of the wolves' movements, only feel fists or knees ramming against them, then all going dark. Hige punched the last human soundly in the head, sending him off to lala land with the rest of his gang. Kiba landed next to him and looked down at the humans sprawled at their feet. His arms preoccupied he had kicked one in the head and kneed one in the stomach.

"God humans are annoying…she ok?' Hige said, looking at Fae.

"Shut up…" she murmured, chin resting on her chest.

"Heh, you heard her. Let's go." Hige said, following again after Kai who had reappeared.

* * *

It was only another five minutes of walking before they came to the old broken down stone house that was their resting area while they stayed in the city. Kiba lay Fae down on the cool ground, covering her with her over shirt and placing his own jacket under her head as a pillow. Hige knelt next to him and also looked down at Fae.

"Damn…she really got torn up…" Hige muttered.

"We can find some plants to put on her wounds in the morning. She'll be alright till then." Kiba said. "And you don't know where Tsume and Toboe are?"

"Nah, they ran off only a little bit after you did." Hige replied.

Kai curled against Fae's side, looking up at her face with bright blue eyes.

Both wolves stood suddenly when they heard a long, low note coming from far away. "It's Toboe." Kiba said when the howling continued. "I'm going to find them. You stay here with her. I'll be back soon hopefully." Kiba said. With a last look at Fae he took off at a run in the direction of Toboe's sad howl, his worn out shoes making harsh slapping noises against the filthy pavement.

* * *

**I really hope you liked it! This was a really difficult chapter to write. I did research on wolves for this to determine how Fae and Kiba should react to one another. The licking wasn't meant to be sexual. (you pervs) It's a fact that injured wolves are groomed intensely by other pack members for both physical and mental comfort. So ha. There. Licking is completely justified, haha. Remember, even if they look human, they are wolves! **

**Anyway, please review and I'll see you next chapter**


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